SAINT    GREGORY 
THE    GREAT 


STATUE   OF   POPE   GREGORY,   P.EGUN   BY   MICHAEL  ANGF.LO,  AND   COM- 
PLETED     BY     NICHOLAS     CORDIER,      NOW      IN      THE      CHAPEL     OF 

STA.   BARBARA  AT  ST.  GREGORIO. 

Frontispiece. 


SAINT      GREGORY 
THE    GREAT 


BY  SIR  HENRY  H.  HOWORTH 

K.C.I. E.,  HON.  D.C.L. (DURHAM),  F.R.S.,  F.S.A.,  ETC.  ETC. 

PRESIDENT    OP    THE  ROY.    ARCH.  INST.    AND    THE    ROY.    NUMISMATIC  SOCIETY 

AUTHOR  OF 

"THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  MONGOLS"    "CHINGHIZ    KHAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTORS" 
"THE  MAMMOTH  AND  THE  FLOOD"  "ICE  OR  WATER"  ETC.  ETC. 


WITH    ILLUSTRATIONS,    MAP,    AND   TABLES 


LONDON 

JOHN   MURRAY,   ALBEMARLE   STREET,   W. 
1912 


TO 

THE  REV.  F.  HOMES  DUDDEN,  B.D. 

WHO  HAS  COMBINED  IN  HIS  GREAT  LIFE  OF 
ST.  GREGORY  THE  THOROUGHNESS  AND  RESEARCH 
OF  GERMANY  WITH  THE  PICTURESQUE  AND  LUCID 
DICTION  OF  AN  ACCOMPLISHED  ENGLISH  SCHOLAR 


PREFACE 

THOSE  who  practise  the  craft  of  the  historian  have 
continually  been  exercised  as  to  its  proper  function. 
With  some  it  is  an  art,  a  sister  art  to  that  of  the 
painter,  and  its  proper  sphere  is  that  of  describing 
the  panorama  of  human  life  as  it  has  passed  across 
the  great  stage  of  Time.  Largely  oblivious  of 
moral  tendencies  or  of  the  purpose  of  the  whole 
show,  its  aim,  they  urge,  ought  to  be  to  gratify  the 
craving  of  us  all  for  the  picturesque,  the  strange, 
and  the  dramatic.  Like  those  who  paint  history 
instead  of  writing  it,  they  are  again  divided  into 
two  schools.  One  of  them  pursues  minute 
detail,  spends  much  time  and  labour  in  verify- 
ing facts,  and  claims  that  truth  and  not  moral 
profit  being  its  chief  goal,  all  things  are  worth 
recording  that  add  anything  to  the  picture. 
They  are  the  Pre-Raphaelites  of  our  profession. 
An  opposite  school  protests  continually  that  this 
pursuit  of  detail  is  largely  pernicious,  that  it 
entirely  disturbs  the  balance  and  perspective  of 
the  story,  that  we  cannot  in  consequence  see  the 
great  woods  and  forests  we  have  to  traverse, 
because  our  eyes  are  engrossed  by  the  individual 
trees,  and  we  thus  lose  ourselves  in  a  pathless 


vii 


viii  PREFACE 

waste.  They  hold  that  it  is  the  broader  and  larger 
effects  we  ought  to  cherish,  rather  than  the  minute 
and  meticulous  pursuit  of  little  details.  These  are 
the  historical  Impressionists,  with  whom  the  mirage 
often  and  avowedly  takes  the  place  of  the  actual 
landscape  and  castles  in  the  sky,  and  in  the  fire- 
grate take  the  place  of  those  made  of  stone  or 
brick. 

There  is  another  school  of  historians  with  whom 
the  panoramic  type  of  the  work  is  not  the  ideal ; 
who  do  not  deem  all  history  equally  important  and 
equally  deserving  of  minute  record.  They  are  ever 
in  search  not  so  much  of  the  picturesque  and  the 
romantic,  as  of  causes  and  tendencies,  of  changes 
and  movements.  They  want  to  know  why  all  this 
procession  of  human  life  is  moving  thus,  what  its 
plan  and  purpose  are,  whence  it  came,  whither  it 
is  bound,  what  or  who  causes  its  steps  to  lag  betimes 
and  betimes  to  speed  on,  and  they  further  try 
and  look  forward  by  tracing  the  road  that  has 
been  hitherto  traversed  with  a  special  eye  to  its 
tendencies. 

It  would  be  foolish  and  inconsequent  to  say 
that  any  one  of  these  methods  and  aims  is  useless 
or  mistaken.  They  all  have  their  purpose,  just  as 
the  various  schools  of  painting  in  colours  have. 
As  we  are  thankful  in  passing  through  a  picture 
gallery  to  explore  the  lessons  furnished  by  each, 
the  Pre-Raphaelite  as  well  as  the  Impressionist, 
so  we  feel  thankful  as  we  traverse  the  shelves  in 
our  library,  that  the  teller  of  stories  as  well  as  the 


PREFACE  ix 

philosopher,  that  Herodotus  as  well  as  Thucydides, 
and  Livy  as  well  as  Tacitus  are  there. 

There  is  yet  another  type  of  historian,  who, 
instead  of  dealing  with  a  long  or  sustained  story, 
selects  a  short  and  definite  period  marked  either 
by  the  career  of  some  potent  maker  of  history 
or  by  one  of  those  convulsions  which  occasionally 
diversify  the  general  uniformity  and  the  process 
of  slow  change  which  mark  the  general  plan. 
By  such  a  choice  it  is  possible  to  combine  a  good 
deal  of  the  detail  which  is  necessary,  if  we  are  to 
realise  faithfully  the  conditions  and  the  limitations 
under  which  the  great  change  has  taken  place,  with 
an  attempt  to  analyse  the  direction  and  effect  of 
the  forces  which  are  shaping  our  ends,  while  they 
are  temporarily  working  at  fever  heat  and  at 
railway  speed. 

Such  a  period  is  that  marked  by  the  career  of 
Pope  Gregory  the  First,  which  I  have  chosen  for 
this  volume.  He  was  one  of  the  few  really  remark- 
able men  the  world  has  seen,  if  distinction  means 
stamping  one's  foot  on  the  fragile  sands  where 
our  lot  is  cast  in  such  an  impressive  way  that  the 
footprints  shall  last  for  many  centuries.  He  stood 
with  one  foot  amidst  the  ruins  of  the  old  worn-out 
world  and  the  other  in  the  chaotic  anarchy  which 
was  presently  to  give  birth  to  a  new  world,  and  we 
may  consider  the  year  600,  which  marks  the  middle 
of  his  most  active  career,  as  the  real  frontier  between 
the  old  world  and  the  new. 

The  man  himself  was  a  very  remarkable  one. 


x  PREFACE 

A  Roman  noble,  he  was  one  of  the  few  whose 
families  had  remained  in  Old  Rome  when  so 
many  others  had  migrated  to  the  New  Rome — 
Constantinople,  where  the  Court  and  all  its  attrac- 
tions for  the  ambitious  man  or  the  sybarite  were 
to  be  found.  Possessing  great  wealth  and  social 
position  and  great  natural  gifts  (especially  the 
Divine  gift  of  indomitable  energy),  he  was  ap- 
pointed, when  quite  young,  to  the  most  dignified 
civil  position  still  remaining  in  the  City,  namely, 
the  office  of  Prsefect,  and  thus  acquired  a  very 
considerable  prestige.  When  carried  away  by  the 
tide  of  religious  enthusiasm  which  was  then  at  its 
flow,  and  which  led  the  gilded  youth  of  Italy  in  so 
many  cases  to  abandon,  their  wealth'  and  to  adopt 
an  ascetic  life,  he  was  not  permitted  to  bury 
himself  in  seclusion,  but  was  selected  by  the 
Pope  for  the  greatest  diplomatic  post  he  had 
in  his  gift,  which  was  generally  reserved  for  men 
of  high  family,  namely,  that  of  Nuncio  at  Con- 
stantinople. There  he  lived  for  some  years  in 
a  position  of  equality  with  the  great  nobles,  and 
was  on  very  friendly  and  familiar  terms  with  the 
Imperial  family.  There  he  also  associated  with 
such  learned  men  as  still  remained  in  the  Christian 
world. 

While  there  he  applied  his  leisure  and  his  very 
vigorous  intellect  to  recasting  the  theological  and 
ethical  standards  of  his  Church.  A  faithful  pupil 
of  the  greatest  theologian  among  the  Latin  Fathers, 
St.  Augustine,  he  made  plain  and  clear  a  great 


PREFACE  xi 

deal  in  his  teaching  which  was  too  technical  and 
abstract  for  most  men.  During  a  very  few  years 
in  a  life  overloaded  with  cares  and  sickness  he 
produced  several  works,  written  in  very  nervous 
and  attractive  if  somewhat  rustic  Latin,  dealing  with 
the  intricacies  of  Christian  dogma  and  the  duties 
of  Christian  teachers  and  their  flocks.  These  were 
suffused  in  a  highly  ideal  atmosphere.  No  preacher 
ever  raised  aloft  the  standard  of  true  righteousness 
more  effectively.  These  works  remained  for  many 
centuries  the  most  potent  and  most  read  of  all 
manuals.  They  formed  the  inspiration  of  the 
Mediaeval  Church,  and  be  it  said  also  the  basis 
of  what  is  called  Scholasticism,  namely,  the  ap- 
plication of  logic  and  reasoning  to  the  establish- 
ment and  support  of  dogma.  The  latter  process 
was  afterwards  denounced  as  perilous  and  unfruitful 
by  another  great  Church  doctor,  our  English 
philosopher  Occam. 

Returning  to  Rome,  he  no  doubt  took  back  with 
him  many  thoughts  and  ideas  which  had  arisen 
among  the  quick-witted  Greeks,  whose  whole 
thought  had  latterly  been  directed  to  theology 
and  its  dependent  studies.  These  bore  fruit  in 
certain  changes  (we  know  not  how  many)  in  the 
ritual,  in  the  Church  music,  in  the  Calendar,  etc. 
etc.,  which  were  now  imported  into  Italy  for  the 
first  time. 

It  was  not  long  before  the  Pope,  his  master,  died, 
a  victim  of  the  terrible  plague  which  devastated 
Europe  at  this  time  and  lasted  for  so  many  years, 


xii  PREFACE 

and  which  no  doubt  had  great  social  and  economic 
results  which  have  not  been  sufficiently  appreciated. 
In  their  desolation  and  misery  the  Roman  crowd 
elected  Gregory,  the  former  praefect,  the  experienced 
diplomat,  and  the  educated  Roman  gentleman,  to  the 
vacant  seat  of  Pelagius  the  Second.  No  other  man 
then  living  was  so  fitted  to  cope  with  the  woeful 
condition  of  things,  and  it  must  be  said  that  the 
fates  made  it  possible  for  him  to  act  a  great  part.  It 
was  the  fact  that  the  Emperor's  residence  and  Court 
were  both  far  away,  and  that  the  administration 
of  the  Empire  was  controlled  from  Constantinople, 
that  left  him  great  initiative.  This  was  supple- 
mented by  another  fact,  namely,  that  the  Emperor's 
hands  were  full  with  wars  against  the  Avars  and 
the  Slavs  in  the  north  and  the  Persians  in  the 
east,  which  left  him  no  time  to  think  of  Italy, 
and  he  was  only  too  pleased  if  some  efficient  man 
would  undertake  to  do  at  Rome  what  his  repre- 
sentative at  Ravenna  had  neither  the  means  nor 
the  will  to  do.  There  was  another  very  helpful 
support  to  the  Pope,  namely,  the  enormous  wealth 
of  the  Holy  See,  which  had  recently  been  re- 
cruited by  great  legacies  of  land  and  other  riches, 
and  which  made  his  income  almost  rival  that  of 
the  Emperor.  It  was  these  facts,  besides  his  great 
prestige,  that  enabled  him  to  initiate  that  large 
control  of  the  civil  administration  of  Rome  which 
bore  much  fruit  in  later  times.  Once  seated  on  the 
throne  of  St.  Peter  he  devoted  his  businesslike 
capacity  to  revising  the  administration  of  the  vast 


PREFACE  xiii 

papal  patrimony,  in  which  work,  while  in  the  main 
preserving  its  old  Roman  features,  he  largely  re- 
formed its  machinery.  He  also  entirely  revised  the 
methods  of  eleemosynary  help  to  the  Roman  poor, 
who  for  centuries  had  largely  lived  on  doles,  and 
whose  patrons,  the  old  families,  had  gone  elsewhere. 
He  also  gave  a  great  impetus  to  the  spread  of 
monachism,  and  exalted  the  monk's  life  as  the 
ideal  of  all  lives,  devoting  most  of  his  private 
fortune  to  its  propaganda.  In  the  world  of  politics 
he  was  no  less  busy.  By  his  efforts  the  Lombards 
were  converted  from  Arianism  to  orthodoxy,  while 
by  his  tact  and  diplomacy  he  preserved  Rome,  which 
was  bleeding  from  its  many  wounds,  from  being 
overwhelmed  by  them. 

One  notable  chapter  in  Gregory's  ever-busy 
life  has  not  found  a  place  in  this  volume,  namely, 
the  missionary  enterprise  by  which  he  was  the  first 
to  convert  a  portion  of  the  English  race  to  the 
Christian  faith.  The  book  has,  in  fact,  grown  in 
the  writing — perhaps  necessarily  grown  if  the  subject 
was  to  be  adequately  treated — and  the  subject  of 
Gregory's  mission  to  England  will  be  told  in  a 
second  volume  to  appear  shortly. 

Returning  to  the  Pope  and  summing  up  his 
work,  it  may  be  very  truly  said  that  few  men  in 
so  short  a  time  with  such  a  fragile  life  ever 
did  so  much  that  proved  to  be  lasting.  That 
all  he  did  was  equally  useful  to  the  world  is 
another  matter.  In  some  things  his  vast  reputa- 
tion gave  an  impetus  to  certain  sides  of  his  teaching 


xiv  PREFACE 

which  put  back  the  clock  of  progress  very  materi- 
ally. He  denounced  the  study  of  the  ancient  writers, 
and  led  men's  minds  away  from  the  illuminating 
thoughts  which  the  best  minds  of  Greece  and  Rome 

o 

had  produced  to  the  narrow  and  largely  fruit- 
less fields  of  dogmatic  theology  and  the  study  of 
the  lives  of  those  he  deemed  saintly  men.  He 
despised  Art  and  the  Humanities  as  inconsistent 
with  his  ascetic  standards.  He  limited  useful 
knowledge  to  the  narrow  and  largely  fruitless 
fields  of  dogmatic  theology  and  the  lives  of  saints. 
The  crude  miracles  with  which  they  were  rilled  and 
the  different  forms  of  magic  they  illustrated,  were 
his  delight,  and  he  accepted  the  theory  that  what 
a  good  man  had  said  should  be  accepted,  however 
otherwise  incredible.  He  it  was  who  filled  the 
Dark  Ages  with  the  grim  imagery  that  occupied 
so  much  of  its  thought,  in  which  fantastic  visions 
of  devils  and  angels,  of  heaven,  hell,  and  purgatory 
are  so  much  in  evidence.  On  the  other  hand, 
his  theories  of  orthodoxy  and  his  methods  of 
dealing  with  what  he  deemed  the  greatest  of  all 
sins,  namely,  heresy  and  schism,  formed  the  vade 
viecum  of  many  inquisitors  and  the  justification  of 
many  autos-da-fe\ 

This  is  all  true.  It  was  very  largely  due  to  the 
atmosphere  in  which  he  was  born  that  it  was  so. 
Such  thoughts  permeated  the  whole  Christian  world, 
which  at  the  time  was  overshadowed  by  a  vivid 
expectation  of  the  approaching  end  of  all  things. 
Nevertheless,  his  great  prestige  as  the  Senior  Doctor 


PREFACE  xv 

of  the  Church  gave  them  the  potency  they  acquired. 
They  formed,  however,  only  a  secondary  feature  in 
the  life  and  career  of  the  great  man  he  was — the 
greatest  man  of  his  time,  who  stood  high  above  his 
contemporaries  whether  as  a  politician,  an  adminis- 
trator, or  as  a  preacher  and  example  of  high  and 
noble  standards  in  the  field  of  morals.  There  was 
nothing  mean  or  sordid  about  him.  When  need 
arose  he  showed  exemplary  courage,  and  the  follow- 
ing pages  will  show  in  how  many  ways  he  excelled. 
His  letters,  of  which  hundreds  remain,  are  full  of 
kindly  thought  for  everybody  save  heretics,  and 
teem  with  humour  and  vivacity,  and  are  the  best 
proofs  of  his  ubiquitous  vigilance. 

In  the  Introduction  which  follows,  I  have 
analysed  the  authorities  which  I  have  used  for 
his  life.  I  hope  I  have  not  failed  to  acknow- 
ledge amply  my  obligations  to  those  from  whose 
learning  I  have  profited,  and  that  the  references 
at  the  bottom  of  my  pages  will  bear  witness  to 
my  solicitude  in  this  behalf.  I  have  in  some 
instances  departed  from  the  views  of  my  pre- 
decessors, but  have  never  ceased  to  be  grateful 
for  their  inspiration,  even  where  I  have  failed  to 
follow  their  reasoning.  Let  me  close  with  the 
words  of  a  delightful  library  companion  of  mine 
who  wrote  the  first  history  of  the  English  Church, 
Bede. 

In  concluding  his  preface  to  that  work,  he  says, 
and  I  echo  his  words  : — 

Omnes,  ad  qnos  haec  eadem   historia  pervenire 


xvi  PREFACE 

potuerit  nostrae  nationis,  legentes  sive  aiidientes, 
suppliciter  precor,  ut  pro  meis  infirmitatibus  et 
mentis  et  corporis  apud  supernam  clementiam  saepius 
intervenire  meminerint. 

HENRY  H.  HOWORTH. 

30   COLLINGHAM   PLACE,   S.W., 

ist  March  1912. 


INTRODUCTION 

IT  is  a  prime  factor  in  modern  methods  of  historical 
research  that  before  we  sit  down  to  write  we  should 
sift  and  analyse  our  authorities,  and  not  merely 
separate  the  spurious  from  the  true  but  give  to 
each  one  its  due  weight,  and  discard  all  secondary 
sources  and  compilations  in  favour  of  the  original 
and  contemporary  witnesses  wherever  these  latter 
exist.  To  pile  up  masses  of  authorities  in  notes 
when  many  or  most  of  them  are  really  echoes 
or  copies  of  the  one  original  witness,  is  mere 
pedantry  and  not  science.  Its  only  tendency  is 
to  lessen  instead  of  increasing  the  weight  of  the 
testimony. 

In  the  case  of  Pope  Gregory  the  Great,  the 
most  important  of  all  the  witnesses  is  himself,  for 
he  was  a  most  voluminous  and  reliable  writer,  and 
has  left  us  a  great  mass  of  largely  un;mpeachable 
materials  for  illustrating  his  own  life  and  the  sur- 
roundings in  which  he  lived. 

Among  these  materials  the  most  unique  and 
valuable  is  the  immense  collection  of  the  Pope's 
letters  (dealing  with  almost  every  detail  of  papal 
administration,  and  written  to  all  parts  of  the 
Christian  world),  of  which  a  large  proportion  are 


xviii  INTRODUCTION 

preserved.  The  Pope's  correspondence  was 
methodically  copied  out  in  an  official  register  by 
duly  appointed  officials.  This  register  is  continu- 
ally quoted  in  Gregory's  letters ;  thus  in  one  place 
he  speaks  of  "  scrinium  nostrum"  in  another  he 
says  "  ab  scrinio  sanctae  ecclesiae  cui  Deo  auctore 
praesumus"1  and  in  another  he  quotes  "ex  codicibus 
et  ex  antiquis  polypticis  sanctae  sedis  apostolicae 
selecta"* 

The  particular  method  of  entering  these  official 
copies  of  his  own  letters  adopted  by  Gregory 
was,  like  many  other  things,  introduced  by  the 
businesslike  Pope,  doubtless  of  his  own  devising. 
It  is  explained  by  John  the  Deacon,  one  of  his 
biographers  who  had  used  his  register  diligently 
and  knew  it  well.  He  says  the  register,  which  was 
written  on  papyrus,  consisted  of  as  many  volumes 
as  there  were  years  in  the  Pope's  reign  (tot  chartisios 
libros  epistolarum  ejusdem  patris  [i.e.  of  Gregory] 
quot  annos  probatur  vixisse  revolvat\*  There  were, 
in  fact,  thirteen  full  volumes  and  an  imperfect  one, 
comprising  the  transcripts  of  the  last  year  which 
were  not  complete  (guartum  decimum  epistolarum 
librum  septima  indictionis  imperfectum  reliquit}* 

The  letters  were  dated  by  indictions.  Gregory 
was  apparently  the  first  Pope  who  so  reckoned, 
and  he  adopted  the  oldest  scheme,  called  the  Con- 
stantinopolitan,  which  took  the  ist  of  September 
for  its  starting-point  in  each  year.  The  years 

1  Eivald  and  Hartmann,  vol.  ii.  p.  355.  *  Ib.  ii.  446. 

3  Preface  to  the  Vita.  «  Vit.  iv.  71. 


INTRODUCTION  xix 

were  divided  into  cycles  of  fifteen.  Gregory's 
first  year  formed  the  ninth  of  an  indiction,  and  his 
eighth  the  first  of  another  indiction,  of  which  the 
last  book  formed  the  seventh  year.1  The  original 
register  as  well  as  a  copy  of  it  which  once  existed 
were  both  long  ago  destroyed,  and  unfortunately 
the  extracts  from  them  which  remain  are  extracts 
only,  and  a  large  number  of  the  letters  in  the 
original  register  are  lost.  The  Pope  himself  refers 
to  seventy-seven  of  them  in  his  works  which  are 
no  longer  extant.2 

Fortunately  before  this  disaster  happened  they 
had  been  in  part  excerpted  by  several  writers.  The 
first  to  do  so,  as  far  as  we  know,  was  Nothelm, 
a  learned  priest  of  the  diocese  of  London,  who 
became  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  in  735.  Having 
visited  Rome,  he  was  permitted  by  the  then  Pope  to 
examine  and  copy  from  the  register  of  the  Roman 
Church  (ab  S.  Ecclesiae  Romanae  scrinio)  some 
of  the  letters  of  Pope  Gregory,  together  with  those  of 
other  Popes,  which  he  brought  back  with  him  to  be 
used  in  Bede's  great  work  which  was  then  in  progress 
(nobis  nostrae  historiae  inserendas  .  .  .  adhibit}? 
The  letters  sent  to  Bede  were  apparently  limited 
to  those  written  by  Gregory  about  St.  Augustine's 
mission,  and  those  sent  to  the  members  of  the 
mission  or  to  the  English  rulers.  It  has  not  been 
remarked  that  the  originals  of  these  letters  should 

1  See  Ewald  and  Hartmann,  Gr.  I.  Pap.  Registrum  Epistolare, 
passim  ;  and  Bright,  Early  English  Church  History,  p.  48,  note  5. 

2  Pitra  de  Epp.  R.  P.  p.  52  ;  Mann's  Hist,  of  the  Popes,  i.  246. 

3  See  Bede,  \,  6. 


xx  INTRODUCTION 

at  this  time  have  been  preserved  at  Canterbury, 
nor  has  it  been  explained  how  it  came  about  that 
there  was  any  necessity  for  Nothelm  to  make 
copies  of  other  copies  of  them  then  at  Rome. 

In  the  year  following  Bede's  death,  namely,  in 
735,  St.  Boniface  wrote  to  Nothelm  asking  him  to 
send  him  a  copy  of  a  certain  epistle  (namely,  that 
containing  Augustine's  questions  with  the  Pope's 
Responsions)  which  he  had  doubtless  read  in  Bede's 
work,  since  he  says  the  registrars  declared  that  it 
could  not  be  found  in  the  register  containing  the 
other  letters  (quia  in  Scrinio  Romanae  ecclesiae, 
ut  adfirmant  scrinarii,  ciim  ceteris  exemplaribus 
infradicti  pontificis  quaesita  non  inveniabatur.1 

This  extract  from  Boniface  is  interesting,  since 
it  shows  that  at  this  time  either  the  Pope's  registers 
had  been  tampered  with  and  some  of  them  removed, 
or  else  that  the  particular  document  had  never  been 
entered  in  the  register  at  all.  As  we  shall  see,  it 
had  to  be  prepared  rapidly  and  sent  off  in  a  hurry, 
and  it  may  be  there  was  no  time  to  copy  it,  but  its 
character  makes  it  quite  possible  that  it  may  have 
been  found  convenient  to  make  away  with  it.  This 
is  not  the  only  letter  relating  to  the  English 
mission  which  occurs  in  Bede  but  is  not  given  in 
any  of  the  excerpts  from  Gregory's  registers 
which  are  extant.2  Another  purports  to  be  ad- 
dressed to  Mellitus,  who  was  with  the  members  of 
the  second  mission  sent  from  Rome,  and  was  also 

1  Bon.  Ep.  M.  G.  284. 

2  See  E.  and  ff.  vol.  i.  425,  note. 


INTRODUCTION  xxi 

written  in  a  hurry  and  dispatched  after  they  had 
left  the  City.  This  may  be  the  reason  for  its  not 
occurring  in  the  registers,  or  it  may  be  because  it 
contains  some  instructions  about  preserving  instead 
of  destroying  the  heathen  temples  and  converting 
them  to  Christian  uses,  which  may  not  have  been 
acceptable  to  the  later  authorities  at  Rome. 

In  a  subsequent  letter  of  St.  Boniface  to 
Ecgbert,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,1  he  tells  him 
he  had  sent  two  agents  to  Rome  to  consult  the 
papal  registers,  and  that  he  was  sending  him  a 
selection  of  such  of  St.  Gregory's  letters  as  had  not 
yet  reached  England  (guae  non  rebar  ad Britanniam 
venisse],  and  that  he  would  send  him  more  if  he 
needed  them,  for  he  had  had  many  excerpted. 

Let  us  now  turn  to  the  extant  collections  of  the 
letters.  These  occur  in  three  sets  of  MSS.,  each 
containing  a  special  series.  One  of  them  is  labelled 
C  by  Ewald.  It  contains  two  hundred  letters  and 
occurs  in  several  MSS.,  one  dating  as  far  back  as 
the  eighth  century.  It  is  anonymous  and  contains 
no  hint  as  to  its  origin,  but  it  is  possible  that  it 
represents  the  abstracts  made  by  Boniface  as  above 
mentioned.  This  is  supported  by  the  fact  that 
three  of  its  oldest  MSS.,  including  the  oldest  one  of 
the  eighth  century,  are  in  German  collections ;  only 
two  occurring  elsewhere.  It  is  further  supported 
by  the  fact  that  this  collection  never  occurs  alone, 
but  in  conjunction  with  a  second  one,  which  can 
also  be  traced  to  a  German  source,  and  which  is 

1  Bon.  Ep.  M.  G.  iii.  347. 


xxii  INTRODUCTION 

labelled  P  by  Ewald.  The  two  collections  are 
separately  grouped,  however,  Ewald  says  they 
were  originally  separate  and  had  different  origins. 
It  is  also  well  to  remember  that  collection  C  is 
notable  for  the  number  of  letters  concerning  the 
Lombards  which  it  contains. 

Ewald  named  the  second  collection,  which  con- 
tains fifty-three  or  fifty-four  letters,  P,  because  the 
oldest  MS.  of  it  extant1  is  preserved  at  St.  Peters- 
burg. It  is  preceded  by  a  letter  written  by  a 
certain  Paul  to  Adalhard,  Abbot  of  Corbey,  in  which 
he  expressed  his  regret  at  not  having  been  able 
to  go  and  see  him  the  previous  year.  As  we 
know  that  Paul  Warnefrid,  the  biographer  of  Pope 
Gregory,  was  on  the  Moselle  on  loth  January  prob- 
ably in  y83,2  it  makes  it  very  probable  that  it  was 
in  fact  this  Lombard  writer  who  wrote  the  letter  to 
Adalhard  signed  Paul.  Ewald's  doubts  on  the 
subject3  seem  to  be  answered  by  Hartmann.4 
Two  of  the  MSS.  of  this  class  date  from  the 
eighth  century.  So  far  as  I  know,  no  suspicion 
attaches  to  either  of  these  collections,  except  in  one 
case  to  be  presently  mentioned,  of  a  letter  in  P. 
They  seem  to  be  bona  fide  and  accurate  transcripts 


1  This  MS.  was  once  at  St.  Germain  des  Pres,  No.  858.     It  is 
now  at  St.  Petersburg  and   is  numbered  F.  I.  7.     See  Ewald  and 
Hartmann,  Register,  vol.  ii.  xvi,  and  following. 

2  Diet,  of  Christian  Biography,  iv.  275. 
8  Epist.  Greg.  II.  xvi. 

4  Id.  26.  In  the  Gesch.  der  Lat.  Lit.  des  Mitt.,  by  Max  Manitius, 
published  in  1911  in  J.  Muller's  great  Handbuch,  p.  106,  this  opinion 
is  upheld.  Of  the  Paul  in  the  MS.  it  is  there  said:  " Ziueifdlos 
idcntisch  mil  Puiilns  Dinconus." 


INTRODUCTION  xxiii 

from  the  registers  of  a   selection  from  Gregory's 
letters. 

Let  us  now  turn  to  a  much  larger  collection. 
John  the  Deacon  tells  us  in  his  biography  of 
Gregory  that  in  the  time  of  Pope  Hadrian  certain 
decretal  epistles  were  excerpted  under  several 
indictions  and  were  duly  arranged  in  two  volumes 
(ex  quarum  multitudine  primi  Hadriani papae  tem- 
poribus,  quaedam  epistulae  decretales  per  singulas 
indictiones  excerptae  sunt  et  in  duobus  voluminibus 
smitmodo  cernitur  congregate*).1  This  greatexcerpt, 
as  Ewald  says,  was  doubtless  made  for  the  Emperor 
Charlemagne  at  the  instance  of  Pope  Hadrian  him- 
self, as  appears  from  a  sentence  in  a  letter  of  the 
Pope's  to  the  Emperor  written  in  794,2  reading 
thus:  "  Meminit  enim  vestra praerectissima  regalis 
praecelsa  scientia  qualiter  in  ipsa  S.  Gregorii  papae 
epistola  Sereno  episcopo  Massiliensi  directa 3  fertus 
infra  cetera  contineri  ubi  eundem  episcopum  incre- 
pans  inquit :  Aliud enim  est picturam adorare"  Of 
this  excerpt  several  MSS.  are  extant,  some  of 
which  date  from  the  tenth  century  and  three  from 
the  ninth,  two  of  the  latter  being  fragments  (the 
archetype  sent  to  Charlemagne  is  no  longer  extant). 
This  collection  was  labelled  R  by  Ewald.  It  contains 
686  letters.  The  fact  that  it  is  only  in  Class  R 
that  the  letter  of  Serenus  just  named  occurs,  shows 
that  it  really  represents  Hadrian's  collection. 

In  the  twelfth  century  a  more  general  collection 

1  Vit.  Greg.  iv.  71.  2  Epist.  v.  55. 

3  Gregory's  Register,  ix.  208. 


xxiv  INTRODUCTION 

of  Gregory's  letters  was  compiled  by  combining 
the  other  three  just  named.  In  it  the  letters 
were  arranged  very  arbitrarily.  As  we  have  seen, 
we  have  no  MS.  of  Hadrian's  collection  dating  from 
the  time  of  the  first  compilation  of  R,  nor  probably 
from  any  date  very  near  that  time,  and  unfortun- 
ately the  beginning  of  the  ninth  century  was  a  time 
when  sophistications  and  forgeries  were  common, 
and  it  would  seem  very  probable  that  the  various 
MSS.  of  R  which  have  reached  us  were  more  or 
less  interpolated. 

In  the  first  place,  they  contain  a  number  of 
documents  which  are  not  letters  of  the  Pope,  and 
which,  although  probably  genuine,  cannot  well  have 
come  from  the  papal  registers,  and  which  in  the 
Benedictine  edition  are  put  in  appendices  to  the 
several  books.  Several  of  these  have  been  in- 
serted by  Ewald  and  Hartmann  in  the  text  of 
their  edition.  These  last  include  lib.  ii.,  numbers 
i  and  2,  the  former  of  which  is  an  abstract  from 
a  document  dating  from  after  the  Pope's  death,  and 
referring  back  to  his  reign,  for  it  begins  "  Teniporibus 
papae  Gregorii"  The  second  is  a  kind  of  instruc- 
tion in  regard  to  a  litany  to  be  sung  in  procession 
when  going  from  the  church  of  St.  Laurence  in 
Lucino  to  the  Vatican,  and  which  was  apparently 
based  on  one  used  at  the  Church  of  St.  Maria 
Maggiore. 

The  next  is  in  E.  and  H.  iii.  66,  and  is  not 
a  letter  of  the  Pope,  but  an  answer  to  such  a  letter 
written  by  John,  Bishop  of  Ravenna. 


INTRODUCTION  xxv 

The  next  document  of  a  similar  class  is  that 
numbered  v.  570  by  Ewald  and  Hartmann,  and 
which  contains  the  Acts  of  the  Synod  held  by 
Pope  Gregory  on  5th  July  595. 

The  next  is  numbered  by  the  same  authors 
as  viii.  36.  Of  it  Hartmann  says  in  a  note  :  "  in 
registro  non  fuisse  crediderim"  It  is  apparently 
an  extract  from  some  chronicle  or  other  writing, 
and  in  it  the  Pope  is  referred  to  in  the  third 
person. 

The  next  is  numbered  xi.  15.  This  document 
is  a  suspicious  one.  Maurice  became  Emperor  in 
August  582,  and  it  is  dated  in  the  nineteenth  year 
of  Maurice,  i.e.  60 1  A.D.,  which  is  equated  with 
his  seventeenth  consulship.  This  is  equated  again 
with  the  third  of  the  Nones  of  October  in  the 
fourth  indiction,  that  is,  5th  October  600,  which  is 
the  date  accepted  by  Ewald  and  Hartmann,  so 
that  the  two  dates  are  inconsistent.  In  it  a  certain 
Probus  is  made  abbot  of  two  monasteries,  namely, 
those  of  St.  Andrew  and  St.  Lucian,  which  was 
quite  irregular  unless  this  was  a  double  dedication, 
nor  is  there  a  place  for  him  among  the  abbots  of 
St.  Andrew's  on  the  Caelian  at  this  time.  The 
terms  and  purpose  of  the  document  also  seem 
very  doubtful. 

The  next  is  numbered  xii.  7,  and  has  nothing 
to  do  apparently  with  Gregory,  but  is  merely  an 
abjuration  of  heresy  by  some  bishop  whose  name  is 
not  given. 

The  next  is  E.  and  H.  xiii.   i,  and  refers  back, 


xxvi  INTRODUCTION 

temporibus  domini  et  beatissimi  papae  Gregorii,  i.e. 
it  was  written  after  his  death.  It  refers  to  the 
coronation  of  the  Emperor  Phocas  and  the  events 
which  followed  it,  and,  like  ii.  i,  was  probably 
derived  from  some  historical  or  annalistic  work. 

In  addition  to  these  documents,  which  have  the 
appearance  of  being  genuine  but  do  not  directly 
refer  to  Pope  Gregory,  and  were  perhaps  inter- 
polated in  the  collection  made  at  the  instance  of 
Pope  Hadrian,  there  are  a  number  of  others  which 
seem  to  be  fabrications  and  to  have  been  inter- 
polated in  later  copies  of  that  collection.  Thus  in 
E.  andH.  ix.  2  2  *ja  is  a  letter  purporting  to  have  been 
addressed  in  599  by  Reccared,  King  of  the  Visigoths, 
to  Gregory,  in  which  he  gives  him  very  belated  in- 
formation about  his  own  conversion.  Gams l  and 
Mommsen  both  reject  this  letter,  largely  on  the 
ground  of  the  rusticity  of  its  Latin,  etc.  It  will 
be  remembered  that  Reccared  had  some  excellent 
scholars  at  his  Court.  Its  contents  seem  to  entirely 
justify  the  two  critics.  In  it  the  King  is  made  to 
address  the  Pope  as  the  Holy  Lord  and  most 
blessed  Pope  Gregory  the  Bishop  (Domino  Sancto 
ac  Beatissimo  Papae  Gregorio  Episcopo\  and  speaks 
of  him  as  superior  to  all  other  bishops  (qui  prae 
ceteros  polles  antestites\  a  very  suspicious  phrase. 
In  this  letter  the  King  professes  to  send  the  Pope 
a  gold-bejewelled  cup.2  It  has  been  argued  by 
Mommsen  that  the  letter  was  concocted  from 

1  Kirchen  Geschichte  v,  Spanien^  II.  ii.  p.  47,  note. 
*  See  E.  and  //.  ix.  227  *. 


INTRODUCTION  xxvii 

the  one  next  mentioned,  and  numbered  228  by 
Ewald  and  Hartmann,  which  professes  to  be  an 
answer  to  a  letter  from  Reccared.  The  annals  of 
monasticism  are  pervaded  from  early  times  with 
a  continual  tendency  to  sophisticate  and  forge 
documents,  and  thus  to  secure  exemptions  and 
privileges,  etc.  etc.  A  notable  case  is  associated 
with  the  name  of  Gregory.  The  MS.  was  dis- 
covered by  Baronius  in  the  Vatican,  and  purports 
to  be  an  edict  or  constitution  issued  by  a  synod 
of  Gregory's  bishops  in  60 1,  and  confers  virtually 
complete  independence  of  episcopal  control  on 
certain  monasteries,  and  the  bishops  are  made  in 
it  to  divest  themselves  of  their  powers  in  the 
most  cheerful  way.  The  document  has  taken  in 
a  great  many  people,  and  notably  Dr.  Barmby. 
It  is  published  in  Appendix  vii.  to  Migne's  edition 
of  the  letters.  It  was  largely  concocted  from 
another  grant  of  privileges  made  by  Gregory  to  the 
Monastery  of  St.  John  and  St.  Stephen,  at  Classis.1 
In  a  note  to  this  last-quoted  letter  we  read  in  Ewald 
and  Hartmann,  "Ex  hoc  epistula  magna  pars  falsi 
privilegii)  I.E.  1366  (998),  confecta  est."z 

A  number  of  letters  of  a  suspicious  character 
occur  in  the  thirteenth  book  of  Gregory's  corre- 
spondence as  published  by  Ewald  and  Hartmann, 
and  are  numbered  by  these  authors  7,  9,  n, 
12,  and  13.  They  form  a  group  all  relating  to 
privileges  of  a  very  extravagant  kind,  professedly 

1  See  E.  and  H.  viii.  17. 

-  Cf.  Wisbaum,  loc.  cit.  p.  375  ;  see  also  Dudden,  ii.  186,  note, 


xxviii  INTRODUCTION 

conferred  on  certain  foundations  at  Autun  by  the 
Pope,  at  the  instance  of  the  founders  of  the  in- 
stitutions, namely,  Brunichildis,  her  grandson  Theo- 
doric,  and  Bishop  Syagrius.  All  five  documents 
are  professedly  dated  on  the  same  day,  namely, 
2nd  November  602. 

It  arouses  suspicion  that  although  this  is  the 
case  they  do  not  occur  in  a  continuous  series,  but 
they  are  separated  by  two  other  letters  dealing 
with  entirely  different  matters,  respectively 
numbered  8  and  10. 

They  are  all  contained  in  the  collection  labelled 
R  by  Ewald,  in  which  they  occur,  as  they  do  in 
Ewald  and  Hartmann's  transcripts,  with  a  broken 
continuity.  Either  the  transcript  of  the  letters  in  the 
collection  R  did  not  follow  the  index  of  the  original 
Lateran  register,  or  else  we  should  have  the  odd 
fact  that  a  group  of  letters  written  on  one  day  and 
dealing  with  one  subject  should  be  separated  by 
interpolated  letters  or  other  matters,  which  seems 
very  improbable. 

Several  of  these  letters  have  been  rejected  as 
forgeries,  or  as  containing  interpolations  by  some  ex- 
cellent authorities.1  Their  arguments  seem  to  me 
conclusive,  and  I  prefer  to  abide  by  their  results. 
The  documents  seem  to  me  in  their  whole  tenor  and 
extravagance  to  point  to  the  ninth  or  tenth  century 
rather  than  the  beginning  of  the  seventh,  for  the 
period  of  their  compilation,  and  in  this  I  cannot 

1  Inter  atios,  Lannoy,  Opp.  v.  2,  p.  445  ;  Sickel,  in  Actis  Acad. 
Vind.  vol.  47,  p.  566 ;  and  Loening,  Gesch.  d.  Deutsch  Kirchen- 
rechtes,  ii.  p.  392,  note  2. 


INTRODUCTION  xxix 

follow  the  very  special  pleading  of  Mr.  Dudden, 
who  on  most  matters  relating  to  Gregory  I  am 
prepared  to  dutifully  follow. 

In  the  Benedictine  edition  of  the  papal  letters 
are  two  which  do  not  occur  in  Ewald  and  Hart- 
mann's  work,  nor  are  they  referred  to  in  it.  In 
the  former  edition  they  are  numbered  book  xiv.  16 
and  1 7.  The  first  one  is  addressed  by  Felix,  Bishop 
of  Messina,  to  the  Pope,  but  the  date  makes  the 
document  impossible,  for  Felix  had  been  succeeded 
by  Donus  as  Bishop  of  Messina  in  the  fourteenth 
indiction.1  At  that  date  Gregory's  reply  to 
Augustine's  interrogatories,  which  is  the  main 
subject  of  the  letter,  had  not  been  sent,  nor  did 
Augustine  arrive  in  Britain  till  597.  Donus  is  last 
mentioned  in  the  sixteenth  indiction  in  Ep.  18  of 
book  xiii.,2  and  the  letter  can  only  be  supported 
by  the  quite  arbitrary  suggestion  made  by  Dr. 
Barmby,  that  a  second  Felix  succeeded  Donus,  of 
whom  we  otherwise  know  nothing,  nor  do  we  in 
fact  know  when  Donus  died. 

A  very  notable  case  of  spurious  interpolations 
is  afforded  by  another  letter,3  which  contains  in 
some  copies  a  long  passage  printed  by  Hartmann 
in  small  type.  The  interpolation  does  not  occur 
in  collections  C  and  R  but  only  in  P,  and  there 
according  to  the  same  writer  "posted  adnexa  esse 
videtiir."  It  occurs  in  some  of  the  collections  of 
canons,  and  notably  in  the  pseudo-Isidorian  de- 

1  i.e.  A.D.  595  and  596  ;  E.  and  H.  vi.  8,  9. 

2  i.e.  in  602  and  603.  3  E.  and  H.  ix.  147. 


xxx  INTRODUCTION 

cretals.  The  first  mention  of  it  occurs  in  Hadrian's 
epistle  to  Charlemagne  in  794,  but  Hartmann 
argues  that  the  interpolation  had  already  taken 
place  in  the  year  769.*  It  is  also  quoted  by 
Rabanus  Maurus.2  The  passage  in  question  makes 
it  appear  that  Gregory  was  in  favour  of  granting 
restitution  to  lapsed  priests  who  had  committed 
grievous  faults,  a  view  entirely  contrary  to  his 
real  sentiments,  and  which  could  only  have  been 
composed  when  discipline  had  become  very  lax. 
Thus  in  the  fourth  book,  letter  26,  Gregory  re- 
bukes Bishop  Januarius  for  having  recalled  lapsed 
priests  who  had  either  done  penance  or  harm  before, 
to  the  ministry,  "which  is  a  thing,"  he  says, 
"we  have  altogether  forbidden,  and  which  is 
also  against  the  sacred  canons,"  and  he  insists 
that  such  lapsed  priests  should  never  again  ap- 
proach the  altar.3 

In  this  letter  Felix  is  made  to  say  that  news 
had  been  brought  by  some  persons  coming  from 
Rome  "that  you  had  written  to  our  comrade 
Augustine  (afterwards  ordained  Bishop  for  the 
nation  of  the  Angli,  and  sent  thither  by  Your 
Holiness)  and  to  the  Angli,  that  persons  related  in 
the  fourth  degree  of  descent,  if  married,  should  not 
be  separated."  He  goes  on  to  say  that  "such  was 
not  the  custom  when  I  was  taught  and  brought  up 
with  you  in  infancy,"  nor,  he  adds,  had  he  heard  of 

it  from  his  predecessors,  or  in  the  institutes  of  the 

1  See  the  discussion  of  the  matter  in  the  notes  to  the  epistle  in 
E.andH. 

2  Lib.paen.  ch.  i.  8  See  also  v.  18,  and  vii.  39,  etc. 


INTRODUCTION  xxxi 

wise,  nor  had  it  been  anywhere  permitted,  but 
on  the  contrary  it  was  clear  that  the  prohibition 
should  extend  to  the  seventh  degree.  He  asks, 
therefore,  whether  what  he  had  written  to  Augustine 
and  the  nation  of  the  Angli  was  written  specially  to 
them,  or  generally  to  all,  and  wishes  to  be  fully  in- 
formed on  the  whole  matter.  This  letter  seems 
to  me  to  stand  or  fall  with  the  next  one1  which 
professes  to  be  the  answer  of  the  Pope,  of  which 
Barmby  says  :  "  The  genuineness  of  this  epistle  is, 
to  say  the  least,  open  to  grave  suspicion."  Jaffe"2 
rejects  it  as  spurious.  While  its  style  in  places 
resembles  Gregory's,  its  prolixity,  bad  composition, 
and  repetitions  are  unworthy  of  his  pen.  Its  origin 
may  be  explained  by  the  desire  of  the  authorities  to 
vindicate  the  teaching  of  the  Roman  Church  on  the 
subject  of  marriages  of  consanguinity,  which  seemed 
to  be  compromised  by  Gregory's  answer  to  Augustine 
on  that  subject.  The  excuse  made  in  this  letter  is 
that  the  reply  of  Gregory  was  only  meant  as  a 
temporary  concession.3 

Lastly,  there  is  a  document  dated  28th 
December  587,  published  as  Appendix  i.  in 
Ewald  and  Hartmann's  great  collection,  which 
seems  to  me  to  present  some  serious  difficulties. 
This  again  is  not  contained  in  any  of  the  great 
excerpts  of  letters  from  Gregory  above  described, 
and  was  first  published  by  Mitarelli  in  the 
Annales  Camaldolenses,  iv.  c.  600  (App.).  Ewald 

1  i.e.  xiv.  17.  2  Regesta  Pont.  Lit.  Spur. 

3  See  Barmby,  Epistles  of  Gregory,  353,  note. 


xxxii  INTRODUCTION 

and  Hartmann  give  it  from  a  Vatican  MS.  5617 
of  the  sixteenth  or  seventeenth  century,  and  Hart- 
mann compares  it  to  another  which  he  styles  false, 
also  published  by  Mitarelli.  It  professes  to  have 
been  addressed  by  Gregory  while  still  a  deacon  to 
Maximianus,  who  is  styled  in  it  "  Abbot  of  the 
Monastery  of  St.  Andrew  the  Apostle,  situated  on 
our  property  called  Clivus  Cauri "  (sic).  In  it, 
although  only  a  deacon,  Gregory  styles  himself 
servus  servorum  Dei,  which  seems  incredible. 
Although  professing  to  be  a  conveyance,  and 
attested  as  such,  it  is  written  in  the  form  of  a  letter, 
while  its  phrases  are  those  used,  according  to 
Hartmann,  in  later  centuries.  It  professes  to  convey 
a  very  large  property,  which  is  described  in  detail 
with  its  appurtenances,  which,  if  Gregory  was  then  a 
monk,  as  is  usually  argued,  he  could  not,  according 
to  his  own  very  strict  theories  on  the  subject,  have 
possessed  at  all,  while,  still  more  curiously,  he  retains 
the  usufruct  for  himself.  This  is  not  all.  There  is 
a  second  letter,  marked  i.  140  by  Ewald  and  dated 
at  the  close  of  590,  which  is  also  absent  from  the 
various  excerpts  of  the  Gregorian  register,  and  is 
printed  from  the  register  of  the  fourteenth  year  of 
Pope  Gregory  the  Ninth,1  and  which  Ewald  claims 
that  he  has  purged  a  multis  priorum  editionum  mendis. 
This  stands  or  falls  with  the  last-cited  document. 
In  it  he  addresses  the  Abbot  of  St.  Andrew,  however, 
not  as  Maximianus,  as  he  elsewhere  occurs,  but  as 
Maximus,  and  says  that  he,  Gregory,  owed  a  debt  to 

1  i.e.  in  1240. 


INTRODUCTION  xxxiii 

the  community,  since  in  it  he  adopted  the  monk's 
habit,  etc.  (quod  in  eo  monachicum  habitum  et  con- 
versandi  sumpsi  dierno}.  The  history  of  this  docu- 
ment is  most  dubious.  It  refers  to  the  property 
conveyed  in  the  former  document  dated  three  years 
earlier  (loca  vel  praedia  q^ie  ante  has  tres  annos  in 
suprascripto  monasterio  meo  condonare  visus  sum], 
which  he  professes  to  confirm  as  bishop.  It  does  not 
occur  separately,  but  as  embodied  in  a  professed 
confirmation  by  Gregory  the  Ninth,  who  in  the 
initiatory  clause  speaks  of  it  in  the  following  very 
suspicious  terms :  "  Nuper  in  nostra  presentia 
privilegium,  a  beatissimo  Gregorio  papa  vestro 
concessum  monasterio  exhibentes  nobis  humiliter 
supplicastis,  ^tt  cum  illud,  quod  est  in  papyro  con- 
scriptum,  esset  jam  per  nimia  vetustate  pene  de- 
letiim,  ipsum  sub  bulla  nostra  apostolicis  annotari 
litteris,  manderewms.  Nos  igitur  .  .  .  tenorem 
prefati  privilegii  presentibus  fecimus  de  verbo  ad 
verbum  literis  exarari"  etc.  It  seems  to  me  quite 
plain,  for  the  reasons  above  given,  that  these  two 
documents  are  spurious.  The  fact  is  of  some 
importance,  since  it  is  upon  one  of  the  clauses 
of  the  last-cited  letter  that  it  has  been  argued  in 
the  face  of  many  probabilities  that  Gregory  was 
technically  a  monk. 

The  old  and  famous  Benedictine  edition  of 
Gregory's  works,  to  which  several  generations  of 
scholars  were  indebted,  has  been  superseded  in  so 
far  as  the  correspondence  of  the  Pope  is  concerned 
by  that  of  Ewald  and  Hartmann,  published  in 


xxxiv  INTRODUCTION 

the  quarto  section  of  the  Momimenta  G&rmaniae 
Historica  in  1891  and  1893.  Ewald  discovered 
a  key  by  which  he  was  able  to  arrange  the 
letters  in  approximately  their  original  order,  and 
with  his  colleague  produced  an  admirable  edition 
of  them  in  which  the  text  was  properly  collated 
with  the  MSS.,  and  which  contains  a  large  number 
of  illustrative  notes,  admirable  indices,  and  a  very 
useful  table.  In  it  the  numbers  of  the  letters  in 
the  Benedictine  are  put  in  juxtaposition  with  those 
in  the  later  edition.  I  have  continuously  used 
and  sometimes  differed  from  the  conclusions  of  the 
two  editors,  and  have  quoted  their  work  as  E.  and 
H.,  with  the  year  of  the  indiction  and  then  the 
number  of  the  letter.  I  have  in  many  cases 
supplemented  this  work  by  references  to  the  very 
scholarly  edition  and  notes  of  Dr.  Barmby  in  his 
translation  of  most  of  the  important  letters  in  the 
Library  of  Nicene  and  post-Nicene  Fathers ;  but 
those  who  wish  to  really  know  the  Pope  must  con- 
sult him  in  his  inimitable  epistolary  Latin,  which  in 
its  way  is  almost  as  attractive  as  Cicero's  more 
finished  and  academic  style.  It  often  sparkles 
with  vivacity,  and  shows  a  wonderful  facility  in 
dealing  with  a  very  idiomatic  tongue. 

We  will  now  turn  to  Gregory's  other  works. 

The  most  important  of  these,  so  far  as  the 
biography  of  the  Pope  is  concerned,  is  his  work 
on  the  lives  of  the  Italian  saints  in  four  parts, 
known  as  his  Dialogues.  This  work  is  referred 
to  in  a  letter  dated  July  593,  and  written  to  Bishop 


INTRODUCTION  xxxv 

Maximianus  of  Syracuse.1  In  it  he  says  :  "  Fratres 
mihi  qui  mecum  familiariter  vivunt,  omni  modo  me 
compellunt,  aliqua  de  miracula  patrum  quae  in 
Italia  facta  audivimus^  sub  brevitate  scribere  ad- 
quam  sum  .  .  .  indigeo  et  quaeque  vobis  in  memoriam 
redeunt,  quaeque  cognovisse  vos  contigit,  mihi  breviter 
indicatis  .  .  .  Et  hoc  ergo  et  si  q^ta  sunt  alia  tuis 
peto  epistolis  imprimis  et  mihi  sub  celeritate  trans- 
rnittis" 

The  work  is  styled  Dialogues  by  the  Pope, 
because  it  is  couched  in  the  form  of  a  dialogue 
between  himself  and  the  Deacon  Peter,  who  is 
made  to  ask  a  great  many  questions  which  are 
answered  by  the  Pope  with  the  easy  patronage 
Dr.  Johnson  extended  to  Boswell.  One  book  of 
these  dialogues  is  devoted  to  St.  Benedict  and 
his  Rule,  and  the  others  to  a  large  number  of 
Italian  saints'  lives,  many  of  them  filled  with 
fantastic  details,  miracles,  and  wonders,  and  inter- 
mingled with  the  Pope's  views  on  theological 
matters,  and  often  with  a  picturesque  surrounding 
which  gives  us  many  peeps  at  the  condition  of  the 
people  and  the  times  and  the  then  condition  of 
Italy.  The  Pope  apparently  implicitly  believes  in 
the  various  legends  he  tells,  and  in  the  encounters 
with  angels  and  devils  and  the  panoramic  outlook 
into  hell  and  heaven  which  the  stories  present.  He 
apparently  knew  many  of  those  on  whose  testimony 
the  tales  were  reported,  The  Benedictine  edition 
of  St.  Gregory's  works  or  the  same  work  reprinted 

1  £",  and  Hi  i.  206. 


xxxvi  INTRODUCTION 

in  the  more  handy  edition  of  Migne  are  the 
most  useful  sources  for  the  Dialogues,  which  also 
occur  in  a  seventeenth-century  translation  into 
quaint  and  delightful  English  made  by  a  certain 
P.  W.,  not  otherwise  known.  I  have  sometimes 
borrowed  from  this  racy  translation,  of  which  a 
new  edition  has  been  recently  brought  out  by  Mr. 
Edmund  G.  Gardner,  annotated  by  my  friend 
Mr.  J.  F.  Hill. 

From  certain  passages  in  the  Dialogues^  it 
would  appear  that  the  book  was  written  in  593 
or  594.  Other  reasons  for  this  view  are  given  in 
the  work  by  Max  Manitius  above  cited.2  The  book 
became  exceedingly  famous  in  the  Middle  Ages, 
and  hardly  any  considerable  library  was  without 
it,  and,  inter  alios,  the  Pope  presented  a  copy  of  it 
to  his  friend  the  Lombard  Queen,  Theodelinda. 
Pope  Zacharias  in  the  eighth  century  translated  it 
into  Greek,  which  was  again  translated  into  Arabic, 
the  language,  be  it  noted,  of  the  Arabian  Nights, 
and  King  Alfred  had  it  translated  by  Werefrith, 
Bishop  of  Worcester.3  It  had  a  great  influence  on 
the  Romantic  literature  of  France,  Italy,  and 
Arabia,  while  it  formed  a  fertile  repertory  whence 
the  mediaeval  preachers  drew  illustrations  for 
their  sermons  and  the  scholastic  writers  for  their 
theological  dialectics.  It  is  full  of  naive  and 
childish  tales,  many  of  them  grotesque  and  some 
of  them  touching  and  beautiful,  but  they  hardly 

1  iv.  26,  iv.  36,  and  iii.  19.  a  P.  103. 

8  Asser,  ad.  an.  884. 


INTRODUCTION  xxxvii 

reconcile  the  reader  to  the  thought  that  their 
author  was  a  Doctor  of  the  Church  and  an  in- 
fallible Pope,  yet  he  published  these  fairy  tales 
(which  were  believed  by  himself  and  taught  to 
others)  as  if  they  were  true,  and  thus  steeped  the 
theology  of  the  succeeding  centuries  with  a  great 
mass  of  crude  materialism  and  paganism.1 

Next    to    the   Dialogues   the    most   famous   of 
Gregory's  works  was  his  great  Commentary  on  Job 
known  as  the  Magna  M or  alia,  in  which  the  vast 
Biblical  memory  of  Gregory  and  his  incorrigible 
habit   of  refining   and    allegorising    and    mystical 
interpretation  are   displayed  at  great  length,   and 
are  intermixed  with  continuous  outbursts  of  vivid 
moralising   and    the   presentation    of   the    highest 
standards  of  human  endeavour,  enforced  in  magni- 
ficent diction  full  of  genuine  piety.     The  book  was 
written  at  the  instance  of  Archbishop  Leander  of 
Seville.2     It  is  contained  in  thirty-five  books  and 
in    six  codices  or   volumes.     He   sent   a   copy   to 
Leander  in  595  although  it  was  not  yet  finished.3 
I    have   said   more   about  this  wonderful  encyclo- 
paedia   of  moral    teaching    later    on.       Like    the 
Dialogues  it   was  found   in   almost  every   library, 
and  was  commented  on  and  excerpted  by  many 

1  It  is  not  pleasant  to  find  a  learned  priest,  while  recently  discussing 
these  fables  and  trying  to  justify  them,  applying  the  phrase  "  the  free- 
thinker Gregorovius  "  to  a  much  greater  scholar  than  himself,  whose 
moderation  and  judgment  and  fairness  are  exhibited  on  every  page 
of  his  monumental  work,  and  who  might  have  retorted  with  stinging 
bitterness  if  tuquoques  ever  came  from  the  grave  to  reprove  the  im- 
pertinence of  bigotry. 

2  See  E.  and  H.  i.  41  and  58.  3  Il>.  v.  53. 


xxxviii  INTRODUCTION 

mediaeval  writers  of  eminence,  notably  by  a  con- 
temporary of  Gregory  and  described  as  his  scholar, 
namely,  Paterius,  who  wrote  a  Liber  Testimoniarum 
collected  from  Gregory's  works,1  and  it  formed  the 
basis  of  a  book  by  the  Spaniard  Taio,  entitled  Liber 
Sententiamm,  of  which  a  copy  existed  in  the  Abbey 
of  St.  Wandrille  in  the  ninth  century.  An  English 
translation  of  the  Moralia  was  published  in  four 
volumes  by  Mr.  Marriott  in  the  Library  of  the 
Fathers.  Mr.  Dudden  has  made  most  excellent  use 
of  the  work  in  his  account  of  Gregory's  theology, 
which  has  in  turn  been  most  useful  to  myself. 
I  cannot  resist  here  quoting  the  fine  words  with 
which  the  great  Pope  closes  his  great  work : 
"  Igitiir  quaeso  ut  quisquis  haec  legerit  apud 
district***  judicem  solatium  mihi  suae  orationis 
impendebat  et  omne  quod  in  me  sordidum  depre- 
hendit  fletibus  diluat" 

Another  work  of  equally  far-reaching  influence 
was  Gregory's  great  Manual  of  instructions  for  a 
bishop's  office,  entitled  Liber  regulae  pastoralis. 

In  the  first  months  of  the  Pope's  career  we  find 
him  writing  "fed  ut  librum  regtilae  pastoralis  quern 
in  episcopatus  mei  exordio  scripsi  del .  .  .  transmit- 
terem"z  In  the  year  600  we  find  Columban 
writing  to  Gregory  that  he  knew  the  book.  In 
602  it  was  translated  into  Greek  by  Anastasius 
the  Patriarch  of  Antioch. 

The  work  existed  in  virtually  every  mediaeval 
library.     The  most  famous  version  of  it  was  that 
1  See  Manitius,  op.  at.  98.  2  g.  and  H.  v.  53. 


INTRODUCTION  xxxix 

made  by  our  own  King  Alfred  or  under  his  im- 
mediate patronage,  and  of  which  he  sent  a  copy  to 
every  cathedral  in  England.1 

In  addition  to  these  works,  Gregory  also  wrote 
homilies  and  commentaries  on  various  Biblical 
books,  of  which  the  most  famous  were  those  on 
Ezekiel,  upon  which  he  was  engaged,  as  we  shall 
see,  during  the  attack  of  the  Lombard  Agilulf  on 
Rome.  The  work  was,  however,  not  definitely 
published  till  eight  years  later,  when  it  appeared  in 
two  volumes,  the  first  one  dedicated  to  Marinian, 
Bishop  of  Ravenna,  and  the  second  to  his  friends 
the  monks  of  St.  Andrew's.  The  homilies  are  not 
so  much  exegetical  as  moral  addresses. 

Earlier  than  these  homilies  on  Ezekiel,  namely, 
in  590-91,  Gregory  had  delivered  forty  other 
addresses  on  the  Gospels,  also  divided  into  two 
volumes,  of  which  he  published  more  than  one 
edition.  Like  his  other  works,  these  homilies 
were  very  widely  read.  They  exist  in  many  copies, 
and  were  much  commented  upon  and  translated 
or  glossed  in  Old  French,  High  German,  etc.  In 
one  of  his  epistles  Columban  asks  Gregory  to 
send  him  the  second  part  of  these  homilies.2 

Mr.  Mann  says  that  many  of  the  lectios  or 
lessons  in  the  Roman  Breviary  by  all  priests  of 
the  Latin  rite  are  taken  from  St.  Gregory's 
homilies.3 

1  See  Sweet's  edition,  Early  English  Text  Society,  1871.     Arch- 
bishop Hincurar  tells  us  that  a  copy  of  it  was  given  to  every  bishop 
on  his  consecration  with  a  book  of  Canons. 

2  See  Manitius,  101,  note.  3  Hist,  of  the  Popes,  i.  238,  note. 


xl  INTRODUCTION 

In  addition  to  these  works,  some  others,  either 
not  now  existing  or  attributed  to  him  by  mistake, 
occur  in  lists,  among  them  being  commentaries  on 
the  Song  of  Solomon,  the  Books  of  Kings,  and  the 
Penitential  Psalms.  Manitius  thinks  the  statement 
about  one  of  the  latter  was  based  on  a  misunder- 
standing of  an  ambiguous  sentence  of  Columban's 
in  one  of  his  letters,  in  which  he  writes  :  "  transmit te 
et  Cantica  Canticomm  ab  illo,  loco  .  .  .  aut  aliorum 
aut  tuis  brevibus,  deposco  tracta  sententiis." 

The  amount  of  mental  activity  displayed  in 
Gregory's  works  here  referred  to  (which  it  must  be 
remembered  was  compressed  into  little  more  than 
fourteen  years)  would  be  astounding  in  anybody,  but 
when  we  consider  that  it  was  all  done  virtually  in 
the  leisure  of  a  most  strenuous  life,  when  he  carried 
on  his  shoulders  the  whole  administration  and 
diplomacy  of  the  Papal  See  in  most  critical  times, 
it  really  becomes  phenomenal. 

Let  us  now  turn  to  other  materials  for  the  life 
of  Gregory  and  the  history  of  his  times  outside  his 
own  works. 

The  first  of  these  to  be  noted  is  the  so-called 
Liber  Pontificalis,  or  register  of  the  acts  and  doings 
of  the  Popes,  containing  for  the  most  part  mere 
lists  of  the  churches  and  other  monuments  erected 
by  each  Pope,  and  the  artistic  works  presented  by 
them  to  various  churches  (these  were  doubtless 
copies  from  official  registers),  a  statement  as  to 
each  Pope's  paternity  and  birthplace,  with  the 
dates  of  the  birth  and  death  of  each,  and  copies  of 


INTRODUCTION  .  xli 

their  epitaphs.  In  the  case  of  certain  Popes  there 
are  in  addition  statements  about  particular  acts  of 
a  striking  kind  performed  by  the  particular  Pope 
or  affecting  the  Church ;  generally  told  in  a  very 
dry  and  otiose  way. 

Of  this  work  two  admirable  editions  have 
appeared  in  recent  years  by  two  very  competent 
editors,  Duchesne  and  Mommsen,  the  former  of 
which  is  illuminated  by  a  large  number  of  notes,  and 
is  the  one  I  have  followed.  The  book  was  until 
recently  treated  as  the  handiwork  of  Anastasius,  the 
Librarian  of  the  Vatican,  who  lived  in  the  ninth 
century,  and  it  was  universally  quoted  by  his  name. 
It  is  now  agreed  that  he  had  probably  to  do  only 
with  the  life  of  Pope  Nicholas  the  First.  As  it 
stands,  it  has  been  shown  to  be  a  re-edited  text  con- 
taining additions  and  interpolations.  The  original 
nucleus  of  the  work  or  first  edition  is  no  longer 
extant  intact,  and  there  is  a  difference  of  opinion 
between  the  two  learned  editors  above  named  as 
to  when  it  was  first  compiled.  Duchesne  dates  it 
about  the  reign  of  Boniface  the  Second,  who  died  in 
532,  while  he  assigns  the  second  edition  to  Pope 
Vigilius,  who  died  in  555.  Mommsen  dates  the  first 
edition  after  the  reign  of  St.  Gregory,  and  the  second 
some  time  before  the  accession  of  Sergius  the  First, 
687-701.  Both  hold  that  the  short  lives  of  the 
seventh-century  Popes  were  written  by  contemporary 
writers,  and  this  applies  to  that  of  St.  Gregory. 
It  is  interesting  to  remember  that  the  work  occurs 
among  the  sources  of  Bede,  who  cites  it  as  Ge$ta 


xlii  INTRODUCTION 

Pontificalis.1  He  probably  derived  his  knowledge 
of  its  statements  from  a  transcript  of  certain  parts 
of  it  by  his  friend  Nothelm. 

The  first  outside  these  authorities  to  write  a 
notice  of  Gregory  (unfortunately  a  very  short  one) 
was  Gregory  of  Tours,  573-94,  a  contemporary  of 
his  great  namesake,  who,  however,  died  before  the 
Pope.  His  deacon  was  at  Rome,  as  we  shall  see, 
when  the  great  pestilence  raged  there  which  killed 
Pope  Gregory's  predecessor,  and  he  reported  what 
he  had  seen  and  heard  to  his  master,  by  whom  the 
information  was  incorporated  in  his  famous  book 
on  the  history  of  the  Franks,  which  has  been  by 
my  side  continually. 

Two  other  very  nearly  contemporary  authors 
were  the  Spaniards  Isidore,  Archbishop  of  Seville, 
who  died  in  636,  and  Ildefonsus,  Archbishop  of 
Toledo,  who  died  in  667,  each  of  whom  wrote  a 
book  of  lives  of  illustrious  men.  Both  include  a 
short  notice  of  Gregory  which  is  largely  a  panegyric. 
The  most  accessible  collection  of  these  works  is 
to  be  found  in  Migne's  Patrologia. 

We  must  now  turn  to  an  English  work  which 
had  been  long  lost  and  was  discovered  in  the  library 
of  the  Monastery  of  St.  Gallen  by  Dr.  Paul  Ewald, 
the  joint  editor  of  the  great  collection  of  St.  Gregory's 
letters  already  described.  The  MS.  was  in  the 
St.  Gallen  library  as  early  as  the  first  years  of  the 
ninth  century,  for  it  occurs  in  the  famous  catalogue 
of  books  preserved  there  of  that  date.  It  is  doubt- 
1  Vide  Op.  iv.  105,  and  x.  251. 


INTRODUCTION  xliii 

less  a  copy,  since  it  is  very  corrupt  and  in  parts  un- 
intelligible. The  author  habitually  speaks  like  an 
Englishman  (he  in  fact  describes  himself  as  of  the 
gens  Anglorum),  and  speaks  of  the  time  "  quo  gens 
Anglorum  hanc  ingreditur  insulam"  He  was  also 
a  Northumbrian,  and  writes  in  gente  nostra  qui  dici- 
tnr  Humbrensiwn>  refers  to  King  ^Edwin  as  "  rex 
noster"  and  speaks  of  the  Deiri  whom  Gregory 
is  said  to  have  seen  at  Rome  as  "  de  nostra 
natione."  He  was  further  a  monk  of  Whitby, 
and  when  King  ^Edwin's  bones  were  transported 
thither  he  says  :  "  ad  hoc  nostrum  secum  appor- 
tavit  coenobium." 

The  earlier  part  of  the  work  is  devoted  to  an 
account  of  St.  Gregory  and  his  miracles,  and  for 
some  of  the  most  famous  of  these  he  is  our  first 
authority.  He  calls  Gregory  magister  noster, 
doctor  noster,  apostolicus  noster,  papa  nosier,  noster 
Gregorius,  and  says  of  him  :  "  nostmm  propagavit 
conversionem  fidem  nostram  primo  re  fecit'' 

The  latter  part  of  the  tract  is  taken  up  with 
certain  references  to  events  that  occurred  in 
Northumbria.  The  last  of  these  reported  in  this 
life  is  the  translation  of  St.  Edwin's  bones, 
which  were  discovered  in  consequence  of  the 
dream  of  a  Presbyter  named  Trimma,  as  the 
writer  had  learnt  from  a  relative  of  the  latter. 
This  translation  Ewald  puts  between  675  and 
704,  so  that  the  life  was  probably  written  at  the 
end  of  the  seventh  or  beginning  of  the  eighth 
century.  He  considers  that  it  is  certainly  older 


xliv  INTRODUCTION 

than  Bede,  and  was  before  Bede  when  he  wrote  his 

history.1     Plummer  has  shown  what  a  number  of 

verbal  resemblances  there  are  between  the  life  of 

Gregory  in  Bede  and  in  this  Anglian  document. 

We   do   not   know  whence  he   got  his  materials, 

which,  except  as  to  the  miracles,  are  scanty.     He 

may  have  been  a  monk  at  Canterbury  before  he 

went  to  Whitby,  and  picked  up  the  stories  from  the 

tradition   doubtless   still    surviving   there.       It   is, 

however,  possible  that  it  was  some  traveller  from 

Rome  who  had  brought  them,  for  he  expressly  says 

of  the  famous  miracle  of  Trajan,  "  quidam  quoque 

de  nostris  dicuut  narratum  a  Romanis."     The  best 

edition  of  the  life  is  that  recently  edited  by  Abbot 

Gasquet,  which  I  have  used. 

We  must  now  turn  to  Baeda,  generally  styled 
Bede,  our  great  English  chronicler  and  ecclesiastical 
historian,  to  whom  we  owe  so  much  of  the  early 
history  of  the  English  Church.  He  was  born  about 
673  and  probably  died  in  735.  He  was  the  first 
to  give  anything  like  a  connected  life  of  Pope 
Gregory,  in  which  he  also  discusses  his  works. 
This  is  contained  in  the  first  chapter  of  the  second 
book  of  his  ecclesiastical  history.  His  account  of 
Gregory  was  probably  derived  from  the  anonymous 
life  just  named,  from  Gregory  of  Tours,  and  also 
from  Nothelm,  a  priest  of  St.  Paul's,  who  after- 
wards became  Archbishop  of  Canterbury. 

Nothelm  visited  Rome,  and  there  by  permission 
of  the  Pontiff  Gregory  (Gregorii  Pontificis),  who 
1  Eng.  Hist.  Rev.  iii.  295,  etc.  etc, 


INTRODUCTION  xlv 

then  presided  over  the  Church  (i.e.  doubtless 
Gregory  the  Second,  who  died  in  731),  examined 
the  register  of  "  the  holy  Roman  Church  "  and,  says 
Bede,  conveyed  the  copies  he  made  to  us  to 
be  inserted  into  our  history,  which  was  done  by 
the  wish  (cum  consilio]  of  the  most  Reverend 
Albinus,  i.e.  the  Archbishop  so  called.  As  we 
have  seen,  it  is  probable  that  Nothelm  also 
brought  back  with  him  from  Rome  extracts  from 
the  Liber  Pontificalis  and  a  copy  of  Gregory's 
epitaph. 

The  next  writer  who  occupied  himself  with  the 
life  of  St.  Gregory  was  the  Lombard  historian, 
Paul  Warnefrid,  generally  known  as  Paul  the 
Deacon,  who  was  born  some  time  after  720  but 
whose  death-day  is  not  known.  In  his  history  of 
the  Lombards,  which  ends  in  744,1  apparently 
unfinished,  we  read:  "  Ideo  autem  de  Beato  Gregorio 
plura  dicere  omittimus,  quiajam  ante  aliquod  annos 
ejus  vitam  deo  auxiliante  texuimus.  In  qua  quae 
dicenda  fuerant,  juxta  tenuitates  nostrae  vires 
unwersa  descripsimus" 

From  this  it  seems  plain  that  Paul  the  Deacon 
wrote  a  life  of  St.  Gregory.  It  has  been  very 
widely  accepted  that  this  life  is  extant,  and  such  a 
life  has  been  often  printed  as  by  him.  It  seems  to 
me  that  this  conclusion  is  very  doubtful.  The  life 
that  passes  under  his  name  was  long  ago  declared 
not  to  be  his  by  Guisanville,  the  editor  of  the  Paris 
edition  of  St.  Gregory's  works,  1675.  He  savs 

1  Ch.  iii.  34. 


xlvi  INTRODUCTION 

further  that  all  the  MSS.  which  he  had  seen,  as 
well  as  those  mentioned  by  the  Bollandists  and 
Canisius,  are  anonymous.  They  either  style 
the  book  simply  Vita  Sancti  Gregorii  or  Vita 
Sancti  Gregorii,  auctore  incerto,  and  none  ascribe 
it  to  Paul.1  The  Bollandists  also  print  it  as 
anonymous. 

The  contents  of  the  work  seem  to  me  to  be  in- 
consistent with  its  having  been  written  by  Paul 
Warnefrid.  It  is  a  very  poor  production,  and 
contains  hardly  anything  original ;  not  only  so, 
but  as  we  have  seen  Paul  had  had  a  considerable 
selection  of  the  original  letters  of  Gregory  made, 
not  one  of  which  is  utilised  in  this  work  in  any  way. 
On  the  other  hand,  in  his  work  on  the  history  of 
the  Lombards  he  inserts  three  of  Gregory's  letters 
in  full  and  part  of  a  third.2  This  shows  he  had 
access  to  the  register  or  to  some  extract  from  it, 
and  he  would  assuredly  have  availed  himself  of  it 
in  writing  the  Pope's  life.  Other  difficulties  also 
exist,  and  it  has  been  suggested  that  the  work  as 
we  have  it  is  largely  interpolated.  Bethmann,  in 
fact,  showed  that  in  one  copy  of  it  these  supposed 
interpolations  are  not  present.  This  is  MS, 
Cheltenham  8462,  s.  x.  and  xi. 

This  copy  of  the  work  seems  to  represent  the 
first  edition.  It  largely  follows  the  life  of  the 
Whitby  Monk,  and  was  mainly  taken  from  it  or 
from  a  common  source.  The  other  copies  I  take 

1  See  Hardy's  Catalogue,  i.  p.  203,  note. 

*  These  are  E.  and  H,  ix.  66,  67,  and  126,  and  v.  6. 


INTRODUCTION  xlvii 

to  represent  a  later  edition,  in  which  much  of  the 
new  matter  has  been  incorporated  from  Bede.  I 
therefore  am  forced  to  conclude  that  the  original  life 
of  Gregory  by  Paul  is  lost,  and  that  the  life  passing 
under  his  name  is  probably  an  earlier  work  whose 
compiler  had  very  few  materials  available.  I  have 
to  confess  that  when  writing  the  text  of  this  book 
I  was  under  the  impression,  shared  by  virtually 
all  the  modern  authorities,  that  the  life  was 
the  genuine  work  of  Paul.  I  have  used  it  very 
seldom. 

A  century  later  we  have  a  much  longer  and 
more  important,  but  unfortunately  more  uncritical, 
life  of  Gregory,  written  at  the  instance  of  Pope 
John  the  Eighth,  872-82.  The  author  explains  in 
his  preface  that  although  lives  of  the  Pope  had 
been  written  by  the  Angles  and  the  Lombards, 
yet  none  existed  among  the  Romans  themselves. 
He  had,  in  consequence,  received  permission  to 
examine  the  papal  archives,  and  a  large  part 
of  his  work  is,  as  he  says,  drawn  from  the  Pope's 
letters  and  other  works.  He  also  collected  many 
traditions  and  legends  not  otherwise  accessible, 
and  used  his  position,  as  was  then  thought  right 
in  a  Church  historian,  for  polemical  purposes. 
Mr.  Dudden's  sound  judgment  sums  his  work  up 
well.  He  says  John  is  an  inaccurate  historian, 
apt  to  draw  unwarrantable  inferences,  and  given  to 
repeating  unauthenticated  traditions  as  though  they 
were  verified  history.  Hence,  when  his  testimony 
conflicts  with  that  of  other  authorities,  it  may,  un- 


xlviii  INTRODUCTION 

less  strong  reasons  appear  to  the  contrary,  with 
safety  be  rejected.1 

Turning  to  the  modern  works  on  Gregory, 
the  Benedictine  life  attached  to  the  great  collec- 
tion of  his  works  by  the  Fathers  of  that  Order  is 
a  careful  conspectus  of  the  facts  written  with  great 
fairness,  and  I  have  occasionally  found  it  useful. 
It  is,  however,  now  displaced  by  more  modern  lives, 
the  criticism  in  which  applied  to  St.  Gregory's 
works  has  been  utilised  and  incorporated  in  the 
following  pages.  Another  recent  life  of  the  Pope, 
also  written  by  a  Roman  Catholic,  and  showing 
considerable  learning  and  research,  is  marred  by 
its  highly  polemical  character,  its  continual  special 
pleading  and  reticence  in  the  presence  of  difficult 
matters  where  the  credit  of  the  Church  is  involved, 
and  its  offensive  tone  to  other  and  greater  scholars 
who  do  not  belong  to  the  author's  Church.  It  is 
contained  in  Father  Mann's  History  of  the  Popes. 

A  much  more  important  work,  which  is  a  fine 
monument  of  English  scholarship  and  must  neces- 
sarily remain  the  definite  and  standard  life  of  the 
great  Pope,  is  that  written  by  the  Rev.  F.  H. 
Dudclen,  occupying  two  lordly  volumes.  It  has 
put  all  other  works  on  the  subject  in  any  language 
in  the  shade,  and  is  quite  indispensable  to  the 
student.  I  have  profited  greatly  by  it,  and  although 
I  have  not  been  able  always  to  agree  with  its 
author,  it  has  been  my  constant  companion.  I  have 
further  been  tempted  in  a  few  cases  to  appropriate 
1  Dudden's  Gregory^  Preface,  xiii. 


INTRODUCTION  xlix 

from  it  a  fine  piece  of  stately  English,  in  which 
Mr.  Dudden  has  painted  some  scene  in  the  tragedy 
of  history  in  a  way  that  I  felt  could  not  be  im- 
proved. 

Another  English  scholar  who  has  done  much 
to  throw  light  on  the  earlier  centuries  of  Church 
history  is  Dr.  Barmby.  To  him  we  owe  a  short 
and  pregnant  life  of  St.  Gregory,  but  above  all  an 
admirable  translation  of  nearly  all  his  more  im- 
portant letters  contained  in  the  Library  of  Nicene 
and  Post- Nicene  Fathers.1  This  work  is  accom- 
panied by  many  learned  and  very  illuminating 
notes,  and  has  been  mc^t  useful  to  me. 

The  great  work  on  Rome  by  Gregorovius  (whom 
Father  Mann  apostrophises  as  "  the  free-thinker 
Gregorovius")  is  a  monument  of  erudition  and  care- 
ful scholarship.  I  have  used  and  quoted  from  the 
Italian  edition,  which  contains  a  considerable  quantity 
of  new  notes  and  some  corrections,  and,  above  all, 
is  resplendent  with  fine  illustrations. 

I  have  also  had  continually  by  me  another 
monument  of  learning  and  careful  research,  of  which, 
most  unfortunately,  only  the  first  volume  has  been 
published.  This  is  the  Jesuit  Father  Grisar's  fine 
monograph  on  Rome  at  the  Close  of  the  Ancient 
World.  This  also  I  have  quoted  from  the  Italian 
edition. 

In  the  discussion  of  the  difficult  question  of  the 
Gregorian  music,  I  have,  by  the  advice  of  my 
very  competent  friend  Mr.  Squire,  followed  the  lead 

1  New  Series,  vols.  xii.  and  xiii. 


1  INTRODUCTION 

of  two  most  excellent  writers  in  Grove's  Dictionary 
of  Music,  namely,  Mr.  W.  S.  Rockstro  and  the 
Rev.  W.  H.  Frere. 

In  matters  of  ritual  and  Gregory's  influence  on 
the  service-books  of  the  Church,  I  have  relied  on 
Duchesne  in  his  work  on  Christian  Worship, 
which  I  have  quoted  from  the  English  edition. 

I  am  also  indebted  for  help  in  special  matters 
to  two  distinguished  historians  and  friends  of  mine, 
Dr.  Hodgkin,  the  author  of  the  classical  work  on 
The  Invaders  of  Italy,  and  to  Professor  Bury,  who 
has  so  excellently  edited  Gibbon  and  has  written 
a  very  noteworthy  work  on  the  History  of  the  Later 
Roman  Empire. 

Lastly,  it  has  always  been  a  strong  support  to 
me  when  I  have  found  myself  sheltering  behind 
the  strong  good  sense,  moderation,  and  prudent 
judgment  of  Dean  Milman,  in  his  History  of  JLatin 
Christianity,  a  book  that  is  much  too  little  read  and 
appreciated  in  our  day. 

A  word  or  two  now  about  more  domestic  aid. 
I  wish  to  thank  my  two  accomplished  sons,  Rupert 
and  Humfrey,  both  of  them  with  sharper  eyes 
than  their  father,  for  reading  proofs  and  other 
help. 

I  must  also  remember  some  others  who  are 
often  forgotten — my  old  friend  Mr.  John  Murray, 
who  has  lent  me  the  great  help  of  his  name  as  an 
umbrella  under  which  to  take  shelter,  and  has 
treated  me  with  great  generosity.  Another  friend, 
Mr.  C.  E.  Lawrence,  has  also  been  most  helpful 


INTRODUCTION  li 

in  the  intricate  duty  of  steering  my  book  through 
the  breakers  that  attend  the  launch  of  all  such 
ventures.  I  hope  they  will  not  be  ashamed  of  my 
book,  and  that  the  sun  will  always  shine  brightly 

upon  them. 

H.  H.  H. 


THE  DESCENDANTS  OF  CHLOV1S,  KING 
OF  THE  FRANKS. 


C  H  L  O   V   I   S, 

ts",          >»• 

Chlotilda. 

1 

1                         1 

CHLODORMIR,                        CHILDEBERT,                        THEO  DORIC, 

1 

CHLOT  H  A  i  R  E 

1524,      King                              tssS,      King                              J534,      King 
of     Orleans.                              o  f    P  a  r  i  s.                               of  Reims. 

i,  ts6i,  King 
of    Soissons, 

Two    of   his                              He    had   no 

eventually 

sons       were                              children. 

reunited   the 

killed     by                                                                          THEODEBERT, 

Frank     Em- 

their   uncle,                                                                                   ts48,      King 

pire. 

Chloth  a  i  r  e,                                                                              of  Reims. 

and  the  third 

was  a  monk 

and  founded                                                                           THEODEBALD, 

the     monas-                                                                                   tsss,       died 

tery    of    St.                                                                               without 
Cloud.                                                                               children. 

Chlodomir's 

realm       was 

divided 

among      his 

brothers. 

CHA  RISER  T,                CONTRA  N,                SIGEBERT, 

C  HI  L  PER  1C, 

{567,     King                    tsgs,  King  of                    t575,  _    King 
of  Paris.   On                     Orleans  and                     of  Reims,  m. 

ts8_4.  King  of 
Soissons,  m. 

his  death  his                    Burgundy.                        Brunichildis, 

Fredegonda. 

State       was                                                             d.  of  Athana- 

divided                                                             gild,      King 

among      his                                                             of  the   Visi- 

CHLOTH  A  i  RE 

brothers.                                                                    goths. 

n,    who    re- 

united     the 

Frank     Em- 

BERTHA,  who                                                      CHILDEBERT, 

pire. 

m  a  r  r  i  e  d                                                             tsg6,  on  the 

Ethelberht,                                                             death  of  his 

Ki   n  g     of                                                             uncle,    Gon- 

Kent.                                                                              tran,     added 

Burgundy  to 

his  kingdom. 

THEODEBERT,                     THEOD 

OR  1C, 

t6i2.                                      f6i 

1 

THE  VISIGOTHIC  KINGS  OF  SPAIN  IN 
THE  TIME  OF  ST.  GREGORY. 


ATHANAGILD, 

558-567. 


BRUNICHILDIS, 
m  a  r  r  i  e  d 
Sigebert, 
King  of 

Reims. 


L   I    D   V   A       I, 


L  E  O  V  I  G  1 1.  D, 

573-586. 


GALSWINTHA, 
m  a  r  r  i  ed 
Chilperic, 
King  of 
S  o  i  s  s  o  n  $, 
who  had  her 
put  to  death. 


H  E  R  M  K  N  E- 
GILD,    Who 

married 
I  n  g  u  n  d  i  s' 
daughter  of 
Sigebert  and 
Brunichildi.s, 
put  to  death 
by  his  father. 


R  E  C  C  A  K  E  D, 

586-601. 


LIOVA  n,  601- 
603,  killed 
by  Count 
Witteric,  an 
Arian,  who 
succeeded 
him. 


t-^OO   ON  O    M 


CO  •«*•  <J">vo    t-00 


i  PI  CO  •*  ir>\o  t^oo  ON  O  M   N  co  rf 

CO  »  CO  CO  CO  OO  CO  O5  OO  OO    ON  ON  ON  ON  O  O  O  ON  ON  O  O    O    O    O    O 


.  CN  O  ON  ON  ON  O   O   O   O   Q 


;to\O  txOO  ON  O  H  N  CO  ^t" 
ONONONONONQ  O  O  O  O 
)  10  ^O  ^O  lO  ^O\O  NO  NO  NO  NO 


u 


XO  i     lO^O    tvOO    Cv  O 

<o  tx  tx  tx  tx 


N    CO  if  lONO    txOO    ON  O    w    N    CO  •*  lOvO   tSOO    Ov  O    M    IN    CO  if 

OOOOOO_COOOOOOOOOOOOOONONONON  ONONONONONONOOOOO 


-t  >O>O    KCO 


NOO  OOOOOOOOCOOOOOOOOO 


ON  ON  ON  ON  ON 


%$zi 

>-OvO  *«O  \O  N 


SECULAR  RULERS  IN  ITALY  DURING 
ST.  GREGORY'S  CAREER. 


EMPERORS 
OF  BYZANTIUM. 

EXARCHS  OF 
RAVENNA. 

KINGS  OF  THE 
LOMBARDS. 

565.  Justin  Second. 

566. 

567-            » 

568. 

568.  Alboin. 

569- 

569.  Longinus. 

569- 

570. 

570. 

570. 

571- 

571-          „ 

571. 

572. 

572. 

572.  Cleophis. 

573-             • 

573- 

573- 

574- 

574- 

574.  Usurpation  of 

the  Dukes. 

575- 

575- 

575- 

576. 

576. 

576. 

577- 

577- 

577- 

578.  Tiberius  Constantine. 

578. 

578. 

579- 

579- 

579- 

58o. 

580. 

58o. 

581. 

581. 

581. 

582.  Maurice. 

582. 

582. 

583. 

583- 

583. 

584.             » 

584.  Smaragdus. 

584.  Authar  s. 

585. 

585. 

585. 

586. 

586. 

586. 

587. 

587.  Romanus. 

587. 

588. 

588. 

588. 

589. 

589. 

589. 

590. 

590. 

590.  Agilu  f 

591- 

59L 

591- 

592. 

592. 

592. 

593- 

593-          „ 

593- 

594- 

594- 

594- 

595- 

595- 

595- 

596. 

596. 

596. 

597- 

597- 

597- 

598. 

598.  Callinicus. 

598. 

599- 

599-          „ 

599- 

600.             , 

600. 

600. 

601. 

601.          ,, 

601. 

602.  Phocas. 

602.           „ 

602. 

LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 

STATUE  OF  POPE  GREGORY,  BEGUN  BY  MICHAEL  ANGELO, 
AND  COMPLETED  BY  NICHOLAS  CORDIER,  NOW  IN 
THE  CHAPEL  OF  STA.  BARBARA  AT  ST.  GREGORIO 

Frontispiece 

FACING   PAGE 

MONTE  CASINO,  THE  CRADLE  OF  THE  BENEDICTINES         .      64 
THE  COLUMN  OF  PHOCAS  IN  THE  ROMAN  FORUM   .  .    124 

PORTRAIT  OF  ST.  GREGORY  IN  STATE  DRESS,  FROM  AN 
IVORY  DIPTYCH  ON  A  BOOK  AT  MONZA,  PRESENTED 
BY  HIM  TO  QUEEN  THEODELINDA  .  .  .184 

ST.  GREGORY'S  TABLE,  AT  WHICH  HE  USED  TO  FEED 
TWELVE  POOR  MEN  (WEEKLY  NOW),  IN  THE  CHAPEL 
OF  STA.  BARBARA  AT  ST.  GREGORIO  .  .  .  202 

THE  BASILICA  OF  ST.  SABINA   .....    242 
THE  CASTLE  OF  ST.  ANGELO     .....    272 


MAP 

ITALY  IN  THE  TIME  OF  ST.  GREGORY  16 


lyii 


SAINT    GREGORY    THE 
GREAT 

CHAPTER    I 

GREGORY  THE  FIRST,  who  was  Pope  from  590  to  604 
A.D.,  is  altogether  perhaps  the  most  important  figure 
in  the  long  roll  of  Roman  pontiffs.  The  epithet  Great, 
which  is  usually  attached  to  his  name,  is  a  measure  of 
the  scale  by  which  he  has  been  tested  by  history.  He 
had  the  further  unusual  distinction  of  having  been 
one  of  the  four  Senior  Doctors  of  the  Latin  Church  ; 
the  others  being  St.  Ambrose,  St.  Augustine,  and 
St.  Jerome.  He  was  also  the  first  ascetic  to  become 
Pope,  which  in  itself  marks  a  notable  departure  in  the 
history  of  Christianity.  As  Montalembert  reminds 
us,  he  shared  with  Pope  Leo  the  First  the  distinction 
of  having  been  styled  both  Saint  and  Great.  He 
may  be  considered  as  the  real  founder  of  the  Papacy, 
in  the  sense  of  its  being  a  great  political  factor,  as  well 
as  a  religious  one,  in  European  affairs,  and  he  looms 
very  big  across  the  ages  as  a  politician,  a  reformer, 
a  controversialist,  and  a  practical  man  of  business, 
ubiquitous,  and  full  of  zeal  and  energy,  and  also  of 
good  sense.  Perhaps  the  greatest  compliment  one 
could  pay  him  would  be  to  repeat  some  of  the  sentences 


2  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

in  which  Gibbon,  who  had  few  good  words  to  say 
of  popes,  and  prelates,  and  priests,  is  constrained  to 
speak  of  Gregory.  He  sneers  at  his  credulity,  but 
he  highly  applauds  the  man  and  the  politician,  and 
describes  his  reign  as  one  of  the  most  edifying 
periods  of  the  history  of  the  Church. 

To  us  Englishmen  he  must  always  be  a  particu- 
larly interesting  person.  Bede  says  :  "  It  becomes  us 
to  speak  at  greater  length  about  him,  since  he  con- 
verted our  English  race  from  the  power  of  Satan 
to  the  faith  of  Christ  .  .  .  hence,  while  not  an 
apostle  to  others  he  is  so  to  us,  and  we  are  the 
sign  of  his  Apostleship."1  The  Council  of  Clovesho, 
747  A.D.,  prescribes  that  the  day  of  the  Nativity  of 
"Our  Pope  and  Father  Gregory"  should  be  always 
duly  observed.2  Aldhelm  calls  him  "our  ever- 
watchful  shepherd  and  teacher  "  (pervigil  pastor  et 
paedagogus  nosier)?  and  Alcuin  styles  him  praedi- 
cator  nosier,  "  our  preacher." 4 

Assuredly  he  deserves  tender  and  continual 
solicitude  at  the  hands  of  English  students. 

In  regard  to  another  matter  I  cannot  do  better 
than  take  a  sentence  from  the  admirable  Mono- 
graph on  St.  Gregory  by  Mr.  F.  Homes  Dudden, 
an  indispensable  work  from  which  I  shall  freely 
quote,  where  he  says :  "In  respect  of  the  history 
of  the  doctrine  of  the  English  Church,  Gregory's 
theology  is  of  particular  interest.  For  the  system 
of  dogma  which  was  introduced  into  our  island  by 

1  Hist.  Eccl.  ii.  I.  *  Haddan  and  Stubbs,  iii.  368. 

8  De  laud.  Virg.  55.  4  Mon.  Ale.  367. 


THE  ANCESTRY  OF  SAINT  GREGORY         3 

Augustine  was  the  system  elaborated  by  Augustine's 
revered  master."1 

In  his  Dialogues,  iv.  16,  and  his  Homily  in  Ev. 
38,  Gregory  speaks  of  Pope  Felix  as  his  ancestor 
(atavus)?  and  it  has  been  much  debated  as  to  which 
Felix  it  was.  Grisar  (whom  I  quote  in  the  enlarged 
Italian  edition)  has  made  it  very  probable  that  it 
was  Pope  Felix  the  Third.  He  alone  among  the 
Popes  of  the  name  is  known  to  have  been  married 
and  to  have  had  a  family.  He  was  Pope  from  483 
to  494,  and  was  the  only  Pope  who  was  buried  in  the 
Basilica  of  St.  Paul  outside  the  walls.  There,  as  we 
learn  from  their  epitaphs,  were  also  buried  his  wife 
Petronia  (levitae  conjunx,  forma  pudoris),  whom  he 
had  married  before  taking  the  higher  orders,  his 
daughter,  Paula,  who  is  styled  a  charming  woman 
(clarissima  femina],  and  his  young  son,  Gordian 
(dulcissimus  puer),  i.e.  "a  most  sweet  boy."  The 
last  two  died  in  484  and  485  respectively.  A  third 
member  of  his  family,  also  buried  in  the  same  Basilica, 
was  named  Aemiliana,  and  is  styled  a  holy  virgin 
(sacra  virgo).  She  was  consecrated  to  God  in  489. 
The  recurrence  of  the  names  Gordian  and  Aemiliana 
among  the  near  relatives  of  Pope  Gregory  seems  to 
make  it  pretty  certain  that  it  was  Felix  the  Third 
from  whom  he  claimed  descent.3  Both  Gregory's 


1  Op.  cit.  Preface,  vii. 

8  The  word  is  clearly  here  used  in  a  general  sense.  See  Smith, 
Stevenson,  and  Plummer,  Bede,  ad  loc. 

3  See  Grisar,  Roma  alia  fine  Storia  Roma,  etc.,  i.  pp.  365  and  366. 
This  was  also  the  view  of  Baronius.  John  the  Deacon,  who  is  given 
to  making  mistakes,  identifies  Leo's  ancestor  with  Felix  the  Fourth, 


4  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

biographers,  Paul  and  John,  tell  us  he  belonged  to 
a  senatorial  family.  Later  writers  say  specifically 
that  this  family  was  the  famous  Anicia  gens  (which 
gave  at  least  one  remarkable  name  to  literature  in 
the  person  of  Boethius,  several  consuls  to  Old  Rome, 
and  two  popes,  and,  perhaps,  St.  Benedict  to  the 
Church) ;  but  this  theory  was  probably  an  invention 
of  a  later  age.1  The  Anglian  monk's  Life  of  Gregory 
says  his  family  was  not  only  noble,  but  religious 
(nobilis  secundum  legem,  sed  nobilior  corde  coram 
Deo  in  religione}.  His  father  was  called  Gordian. 
He  held  the  important  post  of  regionarius.  Rome 
was,  for  ecclesiastical  purposes,  divided  at  this  time 
into  seven  regions,  each  presided  over  by  a  deacon, 
and,  according  to  Hodgkin,  each  deacon  had  a 
lay  assistant  called  a  regionarius.  Gordian  was 
doubtless  a  layman.  Gregory's  mother  was  called 
Silvia. 

From  the  family  picture  presented  by  Gregory 
to  the  Monastery  of  St.  Andrew,  which  was  placed 
in  its  atrium  and  was  described  by  his  biographer, 
John  the  Deacon,  who  had  seen  it,2  we  learn  that 
Gordian  was  tall,  with  a  long  face,  green  eyes  ! ! ! 
(virides  oculi) — let  us  hope  the  paint  had  gone 
wrong — with  a  short  beard,  thick  hair,  and  grave 
countenance  ;  while  his  wife  Silvia  is  described  as  of 


the  builder  of  the  Church  of  St.  Cosmas  and  Damian,  and  he  is 
followed  by  Dudden. 

1  "  In  the  notes  to  the  Ftfire  of  Aengus  (ed.  Stokes,  p.  63),  there 
seems  an  attempt  to  give  Gregory  an  Irish  pedigree"  (Plummer, 
Bede,  vol.  ii.  p.  68). 

8  Op.  cit.  iv.  83. 


SAINT  GREGORY'S  AUNTS  5 

full  height  (statura  plena),  with  round  and  fair  face 
somewhat  marked  with  crows'  feet.  She  had  blue 
eyes,  small  eyebrows,  comely  lips,  and  a  jovial 
countenance  (vultu  kilari).  In  the  picture  she  was 
dressed  in  white  and  held  a  psalter  in  her  hand  from 
which  she  was  reading  the  i75th  verse  of  the  H9th 
Psalm,  while  with  two  fingers  of  her  right  hand  she 
was  making  a  cross.1  On  her  husband's  death  Silvia 
retired  from  the  world,  and  adopted  a  religious  life 
at  Cella  Nova,  near  the  Monastery  of  St.  Saba.2 
Under  the  pavement  of  its  church  there  are  still 
remains  of  Silvia's  oratory.3  She  became  a  saint 
and  was  commemorated  on  the  3rd  of  November. 

Gordian  had  three  sisters,  Aemiliana,  Tarsilla. 
and  Gordiana,  who  dedicated  themselves  as  virgins, 
continuing,  however,  to  live  in  their  own  house,  as 
was  usual  with  noble  ladies.  The  two  former  were 
noted  for  their  austere  life.  One  of  them  is  said  to 
have  had  callosities  on  her  knees,  and  elbows  like  a 
camel,  from  continual  kneeling,  and  Gregory  tells 
us,  that  in  consequence  of  her  prayers  and  fastings 
she  had  visions  :  among  others,  she  saw  her  ancestor 
Pope  Felix,  who  invited  her  to  go  and  join  him  in 
heaven.  When  she  presently  died,  she  is  said  to 
have  appeared  to  her  sister  Aemiliana,  and  bidden 
her  go  to  her.  The  latter  also  died  young,  a  delicious 
fragrance  surrounding  her  death-bed,  and  the  two 
were  inscribed  among  the  saints.4  The  third  sister, 

1  These  precious  pictures  are  gone  and  are  now  replaced  by  the 
"  Martyrdom  of  St.  Andrew,"  by  Guido  and  Domenichino. 

2  See  John  the  Deacon,  Vit.  i.  9.  8  Grisar,  op.  cit,  i.  625. 
4  See  Mart.  Rom.  3oth  Jan.  and  25th  Feb. 


6  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

Gordiana,  is  described  by  her  nephew  Gregory  (who 
seems  to  have  been  greatly  troubled  and  chagrined 
by  the  fact)  as  a  frivolous  and  gay  young  lady,  with 
no  vocation  for  the  life  and  austerities  of  a  recluse. 
She  adopted  a  solemn  visage  in  the  presence  of  her 
exacting  sisters,  but  when  their  backs  were  turned 
she  was  full  of  sprightliness  and  loved  the  world, 
and  eventually,  when  she  was  left  alone,  married 
her  steward.  All  this  we  learn  from  Gregory's  own 
writings.1 

Gregory  had  also  a  maternal  aunt  called  Pateria,2 
who  was  married  in  Campania,  and  from  one  of  his 
letters  to  the  Subdeacon  Anthemius  we  learn  that 
he  sent  him  orders  to  give  her  forty  gold  pieces  for 
"shoe-money"  for  her  boys  (ad calciarium puerorum) 
and  four  hundred  measures  of  corn  for  her  susten- 
ance.8 In  one  of  his  letters  he  speaks  of  his  nurse 
Domna  as  still  living.  Ewald  and  Hartmann  sug- 
gest that  she  was  really  called  Dominica.4 

We  do  not  know  the  exact  year  of  Gregory's 
birth,  but  it  has  been  generally  supposed  it  was 
about  the  year  540,  some  ten  years  after  St.  Bene- 
dict had  founded  his  order.5  He  was  named  Gregory 
(i.e.  the  Watchful).6  He  is  called  a  Roman  by  his 
biographers,  but  his  mother  was  probably  a  Sicilian 
of  fortune,  since  Gregory  inherited  large  estates  in 
the  island,  and  a  monastery  he  founded  there  is 

1  Horn,  in  Ev.  ii.  38,  15  ;  Dial.  iv.  16. 

*  E.  and  H.  vol.  i.  p.  50,  note  2. 

8  Ib.  i.  37.  4  Ib.  iv.  44. 

*  See  C.  Wolfsgruber,  Greg,  der  Grosse,  i.  note  3. 

6  Hence  Bede  call  him  vigilantissimus  juxta  sua  nomen. 


SAINT  GREGORYS  IGNORANCE  OF  GREEK     7 

said  to  have  been  planted  on  his  mother's  property. 
His  letters  also  show  how  assiduous  he  was  about 
Sicilian  affairs.  He  was,  no  doubt,  educated  as 
well  and  completely  as  a  young  Roman  nobleman 
with  a  father  both  rich  and  serious  would  naturally 
be  ;  but  he  tells  us  in  his  letters  that  he  did  not  know 
Greek,  nor  did  he  write  any  work  in  that  language, 
which  had  once  formed  a  necessary  equipment  of  a 
Roman  gentleman,  but  was  no  longer  spoken  at 
Rome  (Nos  nee  Graece  novimus  nee  aliquod  opus 
aliquando  Graece  conscripsimus}.1 

This  is  especially  curious,  since  he  actually  lived 
six  years  at  Constantinople,  not  as  a  private  person, 
but  as  an  ambassador,  or  nuncio,  while,  on  the 
other  hand,  a  great  part  of  the  theology  then 
current  was  written  in  Greek.  "Justinian  was  the 
last  Emperor,  who,  either  in  public  or  private  life, 
used  the  Latin  tongue.  .  .  .  Procopius,  who  had 
travelled  in  Italy,  knew  no  Latin,  and  in  Gregory's 
time,  at  Constantinople,  Greek  was  the  language  of 
the  Court,  of  the  Church,  of  the  Law  Courts,  of  the 
Bureaux,  of  the  Hippodrome,  and  the  streets."2 
This  makes  Gregory's  confession  astounding.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  fact  that  he  carried  on  such  a 
large  and  confidential  correspondence  with  people 
in  high  positions  at  Constantinople,  always  writing 
to  them  in  Latin,  shows  that,  like  French  in  Ger- 
many in  the  eighteenth  century,  the  old  speech  of 
Rome  must  have  been  generally  familiar  to  the 
upper  classes.  He  complains  in  several  of  his 

1  E.  and  H.  xi.  55.  *  Dudden,  op.  cit.  i.  153. 


8  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

letters  of  the  incapacity  of  the  interpreters,1  and 
it  may  be  that  the  correspondence  on  each  side  had 
to  be  interpreted.  In  a  letter  to  Narses  he  bids 
him  give  his  compliments  to  Dominica  (his  nurse). 
He  had  not  answered  her  letter,  he  said,  because, 
although  her  native  tongue  was  Latin,  she  had 
written  to  him  in  Greek.2 

Not  only  did  Gregory  not  know  Greek,  but  he 
does  not  show  any  taste  for  the  humanities  and  the 
arts,  and  in  his  more  austere  later  life  he  is  found 
discountenancing  what  he  calls  nugis  et  saecularibus 
litteris?  His  was  eminently  a  practical  and  busi- 
nesslike genius,  which  was  developed  by  a  lawyer's 
training.  Gregory  of  Tours,  his  contemporary,  tells 
us  (perhaps  hyperbolically)  how,  in  the  liberal  arts 
of  grammar,  rhetoric,  and  dialectic,  he  was  deemed 
the  first  in  Rome.*  Paul  the  Deacon  makes  a 
similar  statement,5  but  Gregory  made  no  pretence 
to  classical  finish  in  his  Latin  style :  thus,  in  a 
letter  to  his  friend  Bishop  Leander,  he  tells  him 
that  he  took  little  heed  of  the  niceties  of  style  (situs 
modosque  et praepositionum  casus  servare  contemno), 
for,  as  he  says,  "  I  deem  it  an  indignity  to  tie  up  the 
words  of  the  sacred  oracle  by  the  rules  of  Donatus." ( 
As  Mr.  Dudden  says,  the  Latinity  of  the  Dialogues 
and  Morals,  though  certainly  not  excellent,  is  yet, 
on  the  whole,  respectable,  and  its  grammatical  sim- 
plicity contrasts  favourably,  not  only  with  the  bar- 
barism of  a  Gregory  of  Tours,  but  also  with  the 

1  E.  and  H.  \.  28,  vii.  27,  x.  14,  21.  *  Ib.  iii.  63. 

8  Ib.  xi.  34.  *  Hist.  Franc,  x.  i. 

5  Vita,  ii.  «  E.  and  H.  v.  530-. 


SAINT  GREGORY  AS  PREFECT  OF  ROME     9 

pedantry  and  polish  of  a  Cassiodorus  or  a  Columban.1 
Gregory's  style  was  especiallysuited  to  letter-writing, 
of  which  he  was  one  of  the  most  notable  masters. 
Like  other  high-born  Romans  he,  no  doubt,  was  well 
instructed  in  Roman  law,  but  he  apparently  cared  little 
for  what  we  call  philosophy,  or  for  what  was  then 
known  as  science,  which  was  far  removed  from  that 
we  know  by  the  name.  He  does  not  mention  astron- 
omy or  geometry  in  any  of  his  works.  On  the  other 
hand,  John  of  Salisbury  reports  him  as  expelling  the 
mathematici:  "SanctusGregorius  .  .  .  mathesinjussit 
ab  aula  recedere" 2  By  this  term  he  no  doubt  means 
the  astrologers,  whom  he  elsewhere  denounces.3 

His  position,  character,  and  knowledge  of  affairs 
pointed  Gregory  out  for  speedy  promotion,  and 
when  still  young  he  was  nominated  Urban  Praetor, 
or  more  probably  Praefect,  of  Rome 4  by  the 
Emperor  Justin  the  Second.5  As  Praefect,  Gregory 
probably  used  the  insignia  of  a  Consul,  and  had  a 
right  to  wear  the  purple-striped  robe  (trabea),  and 
to  ride  in  a  four-horse  chariot,  while  he  largely 
superintended  the  government  and  administration 
of  the  city.  At  this  time,  however,  the  office  was 
shorn  of  much  of  its  old  importance,  and  the 
greater  part  of  the  officials  who  used  to  do  the  bid- 

1  Op.  cit.  73.        2  Polycrat.  ii.  26  ;  Gregorovius  I.  p.  418,  note  27 

3  Mor.  xxxiii.  19  ;  Horn,  in  Ev.  10,  par.  5. 

4  John  the  Deacon,  i.  4. 

5  The  only  date  we  have  referring  to  Gregory's  holding  this  office 
is  in  one  of  his  letters  (E.  and  H.  iv.  2,  and  note  2),  where  he  says 
he  signed  the  cautio  given  by  Laurentius  when  he  became  Bishop  of 
Milan,  22nd  January  573,  and   says:    "Ego  quoqtte  tune  urbanam 
praefecturafii  gerens  pariter  subscripsi" 


io  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

ding  of  its  holder  had  disappeared.  As  Mr.  Dudden 
says :  "  There  was  no  longer  work  for  curators  of 
baths,  or  theatres,  or  statues,  when  the  baths  were 
waterless,  the  theatres  deserted,  and  the  statues 
fallen  or  broken ;  nor  was  there  need  of  a  Minister 
of  Public  Spectacles  when  the  only  surviving 
spectacles  were  the  ceremonies  of  the  Church.  .  .  . 
The  office  was  still,  however,  of  some  consideration  ; 
within  the  walls  of  Rome  the  civil  administration 
rested  in  his  hands,  his  jurisdiction  over  the  citizens 
being  almost  unimpaired.  In  financial  matters 
he  was  still  the  great  authority.  The  Government 
officials  of  whom  he  had  the  superintendence  were 
more  in  number  perhaps  than  is  usually  supposed, 
since  at  a  later  date  such  officers  as  a  Curator  of 
the  Aqueducts  and  a  Palace  Architect  were  still  in 
existence. " l  Further,  the  Prsefect  acted  with  the  Pope 
in  buying  and  distributing  grain,  and  co-operated 
with  the  Magister  Militum  in  taking  measures  for 
the  defence  of  the  City. 

The  position  was  still  a  very  arduous  as  well  as 
dignified  one,  for  during  the  previous  five-and- 
twenty  years  Rome  had  been  successively  entered 
and  plundered  by  Totila  in  546,  Belisarius  in  547, 
again  by  Totila  in  548,  by  Narses  in  552,  and  lastly, 
in  568  by  the  Lombard  Alboin,  and  it  was,  no  doubt, 
in  a  terribly  ruinous  and  impoverished  condition. 

On  the  death  of  his  father,  the  date  of  which  is 
not  known,  but  was  probably  about  575  A.D.,  Gregory 
became  possessed  of  great  wealth,  including  large 

1  Dudden,  i.  103  ;  E.  and  H.  ix.  106,  and  xii.  6. 


SAINT  GREGORY  AS  AN  ASCETIC  n 

estates  in  Italy  and  Sicily  and  much  personal 
property.  Like  other  serious  men  of  his  time,  to 
whom  the  future  of  the  world  seemed  dismal,  he 
had  been  attracted  by  the  peaceful  austerities  of  a 
religious  life,  and  especially  by  the  example  of  St. 
Benedict.  Gregory  devoted  his  own  patrimony  in 
Sicily  to  the  foundation  and  endowment  of  six  mon- 
asteries in  that  island,  which  Hody  calls  "  the  special 
asylum  and  paradise  of  the  Church."  These  mon- 
asteries were  all  in  the  diocese  of  Palermo,  and  still 
existed  at  the  end  of  the  eighth  century.  One  of 
them  was  built  on  his  mother's  property  (in  aedibus 
maternis). 

A  more  interesting  foundation  of  St.  Gregory 
was  the  Monastery  of  St.  Andrew  on  the  Caelian 
Hill,  which  he  endowed  with  his  ancestral  residence 
and  with  an  ample  income,  thus  following  the  ex- 
ample of  other  great  Roman  nobles  like  Eucherius, 
Paulinus,  Cassiodorus,  etc.  We  shall  have  more 
to  say  of  this  monastery  in  a  later  volume.  The 
balance  of  his  fortune  he  left  to  the  poor.1 

By  most  writers  it  has  been  supposed  that  he 
became  technically  a  monk,  a  view  in  which  Mr. 
Dudden  concurs.  This  seems  to  be  improbable,  for 
about  this  time  he  became  one  of  the  Seven  Deacons 
who  presided  over  the  eleemosynary  affairs  of  the 
Church  at  Rome,  which  office  would  be  incompatible 
with  the  life  of  a  monk,  and  involved  a  "  secular  "  and 
not  a  "  regular  "  vocation ; 2  but  he  no  doubt  made  the 

1  Greg,  of  Tours,  op.  cit.  x.  i. 

"  I  can  nowhere  find  any  statement  in  his  writings  definitely  saying 
he  had  ever  been  a   professed   monk.     His   language  only  implies 


12  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

monastery  he  had  founded  his  most  cherished  home, 
whither  he  withdrew  for  peace  and  quietude.  In  a 
letter  written  to  Marinianus,  Bishop  of  Ravenna, 
Gregory  urges  that  any  one  who  had  attained  any 
ecclesiastical  order  should  no  longer  have  any 
power  in  a  monastery  or  any  longer  dwell  there.1 
Gregory  of  Tours  tells  us  how,  in  the  pursuit  of 
his  duties,  he  who  had  traversed  the  streets  in  be- 
jewelled silken  robes  now  did  so  in  coarse  garments, 
while  he  dedicated  himself  to  the  service  of  the 
altars.2  It  has  been  supposed  that  his  mother's  ex- 
ample led  him  to  take  this  course,  and  a  not  improb- 
able legend  tells  us  that  he  was  really  persuaded  to 
it  by  Simplicius  and  Constantine,  the  one  abbot  and 
the  other  a  monk  of  Monte  Cassino  (who  had  sought 
refuge  at  Rome  after  the  burning  of  their  monastery 
by  the  Lombards),  and  by  other  monks  who  were  his 
friends.  At  all  events,  it  is  clear  that  he  not  only 
gave  up  his  wealth,  but  also  his  heart,  to  his  new 
ideal  of  life,  and  he  never  flinched  in  his  devotion  to 
it.  He  remained  an  ascetic  to  the  end  of  his  days. 
Like  most  people  of  wealth  and  position  who 
turn  their  backs  on  the  world,  he  pushed  his 
asceticism  to  great  lengths.  Inter  alia>  he  is  said 
to  have  fed  on  raw  vegetables  (crudo  leguminc]  and 
fruit  supplied  by  his  mother,  who  lived  as  a  recluse 
close  by,  and  which  she  sent  to  him,  we  are  expressly 

that  he  lived  like  a  monk  in  his  own  Monastery  of  St.  Andrew  when 
he  was  at  Rome.  John  the  Deacon,  not  an  accurate  person,  also  uses 
ambiguous  language  ;  thus  he  says  :  "  Primo  sub  Hilarionis,  deinde 
sub  Maximiani,  venerabilium  patrum,  regimine,  multis  sibi  sociatis 
fratribus,  regulari  tramite  militavit "  (pp.  cit.  i.  6  and  7). 

1  Epp.  of  St.  Gregory,  viii.  16,  note.  2  Op.  cit.  book  x.  i. 


SAINT  GREGORY  AS  DEACON  AND  NUNCIO      13 

told,  on  a  silver  dish.1  Various  stories  are  told  of 
the  way  in  which  he  permanently  injured  his  health 
by  his  privations  and  devotion  to  study.  He  fre- 
quently fainted  and  was  racked  by  pain  from  gout, 
was  not  able  to  keep  the  prescribed  fasts,  and  could 
barely  keep  that  on  Easter  Eve,  and  he  tells  us  he 
would  have  succumbed  more  than  once  if  the  brethren 
had  not  insisted  on  his  taking  proper  food. 

Presently  (we  do  not  know  at  what  date)  we  find 
Gregory  appointed,  by  Pope  Benedict  the  First,  one 
of  the  Seven  Regionary  Deacons  of  Rome.  Baronius 
suggests  they  were  the  precursors  of  what  are  now 
known  as  Cardinal  Deacons.  They  presided  over 
the  administration  of  alms  and  other  similar  duties 
in  the  seven  ecclesiastical  regions  into  which  Rome 
was  divided.  Gregory  of  Tours  speaks  of  him  as 
"the  seventh  Levite,"  while  Eulogius,  Patriarch 
of  Alexandria,  makes  him  an  archdeacon,  meaning 
probably  the  head  of  the  seven  deacons,  all  of 
which  is  inconsistent  with  his  having  been  an  actual 
monk  or  regular.  This  appointment  was,  according 
to  his  own  confession,  very  much  against  his  inclina- 
tion, for  his  heart  was  pining  for  the  seclusion  and 
austerities  of  a  monastery,  and  to  get  away  from  the 
world.  It  was  probably  still  more  distasteful  to  him 
when  the  Pope  presently  promoted  him  to  a  more 
influential  place,  and  made  him  the  papal  representa- 
tive or  nuncio  at  the  Imperial  Court  of  Constanti- 
nople, which  was  the  most  dignified  post  in  his  gift. 

1  John  the  Deacon  tells  us  that  Gregory  one  day,  having  no  money 
at  hand,  gave  this  dish  to  a  beggar  dressed  as  a  shipwrecked  mariner, 
who  afterwards  turned  out  to  have  been  an  angel  in  disguise  ( Vit.  i.  10). 


14  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

This  post  Bede  calls  that  of  apocrisiarius  (from 
airoKpLcns,  "an  answer."  The  word  is  glossed  in 
Latin  by  responsalis). 

It  will  be  well  to  realise  the  political  condition 
of  the  Mediterranean  lands  at  this  time.  The 
Empire  of  Byzantium  was  still  by  far  the  most 
powerful  state  in  Europe.  During  the  reign  of 
Justinian,  527-565,  it  had  largely  recovered  in 
wealth  and  power  after  the  terrible  ravages  of  the 
Barbarians  in  the  fifth  and  beginning  of  the  sixth 
century.  The  African  province  had  been  recon- 
quered from  the  Vandals  by  Belisarius,  and  now 
formed,  with  the  valley  of  the  Nile,  a  famous 
granary  for  the  Empire.  Italy  had  been  similarly 
recovered  from  the  Goths  by  Narses,  and  with 
the  islands  of  Sicily,  Sardinia,  and  Corsica,  and  the 
Istrian  and  Illyrian  regions,  became  in  the  same  reign 
once  more  part  of  the  Roman  Empire.  The  Tigris 
had  been  maintained  by  Justinian  as  the  eastern 
limit  of  the  Empire,  as  the  Danube  and  the  Alps  re- 
mained its  boundaries  on  its  northern  frontier,  while 
the  peoples  of  the  Caucasus  on  the  one  hand  and  the 
Abyssinians  on  the  other  had  been  brought  within 
the  influence  of  the  Roman  power  for  the  first  time. 

In  the  far  West,  Justinian's  general,  Liberius, 
reconquered  a  large  part  of  the  maritime  district  of 
Spain,  including  the  cities  of  Corduba,  Carthagena, 
Malaga,  and  Assidonia,  with  many  places  on  the 
coast,  from  the  Visigoths.  Malaga,  Assidonia,  and 
Corduba  were  sixteen  years  later  recovered  from  the 
Romans  by  the  great  Visigothic  chief,  Leovigild. 


THE  EMPIRE  AND  LOMBARDS  IN  ITALY      15 

The  rest  of  Spain,  including  the  Suevian  kingdom 
in  the  north,  had  by  the  year  616  definitely  passed 
under  the  rule  of  the  Visigoths,  as  the  greater  part  of 
Gaul  had  passed  under  that  of  the  Franks. 

Having  recovered  Italy,  Justinian  on  the  i3th  of 
August  554  issued  a  decree  known  as  the  Pragmatic 
Sanction,  in  which  two  clauses  occur  which  helped 
to  strengthen  the  authority  of  the  Church  there. 
In  the  nineteenth  clause  he  associated  the  Pope  with 
the  decayed  remnant  of  the  Senate  in  supervising 
weights  and  measures  and  the  standards  of  the  coin 
in  the  great  city,  and  in  the  twelfth  he  assigned  to 
the  bishops  and  chief  persons  of  each  province  the 
appointment  of  the  provincial  governors. 

The  Empire,  with  its  frontiers  thus  enlarged  by 
Justinian,  did  not  remain  long  intact.  It  is  no  part 
of  my  purpose  to  describe  the  attacks  upon  it  of 
the  Slavs  and  Saracens  in  the  East,  and  we  must 
limit  our  short  survey  to  Italy.  It  was  in  the  year 
568  that  the  Lombards  crossed  the  Alps  from 
Pannonia  under  their  king,  Alboin,  and  speedily 
conquered  Venetia  and  Cisalpine  Gaul  which,  as 
Mr.  Bury  shrewdly  says,  were  in  ecclesiastical  op- 
position to  Justinian  and  the  Roman  See,  and  prob- 
ably in  some  measure  favoured  Alboin's  conquest. 
Alboin  advanced  as  far  as  Tuscany  and  founded  the 
Lombard  kingdom  of  North  Italy.  Two  of  his 
nobles,  named  Zotto  and  Farwald,  proceeded  farther, 
and  founded  the  more  or  less  dependent  duchies  of 
Spoleto  and  Beneventum,  the  latter  in  571.  These 
three  states  during  the  succeeding  half-century  con- 


16  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

siderably  enlarged  their  borders  at  the  expense  of 
the  Imperial  possessions. 

The  peninsula  was  thus  divided  between  two  sets 
of  masters,  and  in  each  case  their  possessions  were 
again  divided  into  three  groups,  each  controlled  by 
an  important  city.1 

1  Mr.  Dudden  and  Dr.  Bury  have  given  a  good  condensed  account 
of  the  division,  which  I  shall  follow.  The  principal  Roman  posses- 
sions were : — 

"  I.  In  the  north,  Istria,  Grado,  the  Venetian  Coast,  maritime 
Liguria,  and  the  towns  of  Padua,  Mantua,  Monselice,  Cremona, 
Piacenza,  Parma,  Reggio,  and  Modena,  which  belonged  to  the  Empire 
in  580.  To  these  we  must  add  the  Exarchate  of  Ravenna  and  the 
maritime  Pentapolis,  i.e.  the  cities  of  Rimini,  Pesaro,  Fano,  Sinigaglia, 
and  Ancona,  with  the  inland  Decapolis,  i.e.  the  cities  of  Jesi,  Gubbio, 
Cagli,  Luceoli,  Fossombrone,  Valvense,  Urbino,  Montefeltro,  Umana, 
and  Osimo,  and  also  the  ./Emilia,  comprising  Ferrara,  Bologna, 
Cesena,  Imola,  etc. 

"2.  In  the  centre,  the  Roman  possessions  included  the  city  of 
Perugia  and  the  later  Ducatus  Romae,  a  district  which  stretched  from 
Todi  and  Civita  Vecchia  on  the  north  to  Gaeta  on  the  south,  including 
all  the  ancient  province  of  Latium. 

"  3.  The  southern  group  comprising  Naples  with  a  small  surround- 
ing territory,  including  Amalfi,  Sipontum,  on  the  east  coast,  Paestum 
and  Agropoli  isolated  on  the  west  coast,  the  two  provinces  of  Calabria 
and  Bruttii,  and  the  islands  of  Sardinia,  Corsica,  and  Sicily. 

"  These  several  districts  were  all  under  the  Emperor's  lieutenant  at 
Ravenna,  known  as  the  Exarch,  a  title  which  first  appears  in  the  time 
of  Gregory. 

"  The  Lombard  territory  also  consisted,  as  I  have  said,  of  three 
states  : — 

"  i.  In  the  north  it  was  directly  subject  to  the  Lombard  kings,  and 
included  Milan  and  Pavia,  the  royal  residences,  and  a  number  of  small 
subordinate  duchies,  including  those  of  Bergamo,  Brescia,  Friuli, 
Trient,  etc.,  and  Tuscany. 

"2.  In  the  centre  was  the  Great  Duchy  of  Spoleto,  which  continu- 
ally endeavoured  to  extend  its  limits  to  the  north  at  the  expense  of 
the  Pentapolis,  and  to  the  west  at  the  expense  of  Rome.  It  tended  to 
join  Tuscany  and  to  include  the  isthmus  of  land  which  lay  along  the 
Flaminian  road  between  Rome  and  the  Adriatic,  of  which  the  key 
was  Perugia. 

"  3.  The  Duchy  of  Beneventum  including  almost  all  the  territory 
east  of  Naples  and  north  of  Consentia" (Dudden,  i.  167  and  168  ;  Bury, 
Later  Rom.  Empire,  ii.  146,  note  14,  148  and  149). 


ITALY  IN  THE  TIME   OF  ST.   GREGORY. 


To  face  p.  16. 


17 

Gregory's  language  about  the  Lombards  seems  to 
me  somewhat  extravagant  and  exaggerated.  I  n  their 
wars  with  the  Empire  they  acted,  no  doubt,  like  other 
rough  soldiers,  and  were  ruthless,  destroying  property 
and  holding  their  captives  to  ransom  or  selling  them 
as  slaves.  The  country  people  naturally  suffered  as 
they  do  in  all  wars,  but  it  does  not  appear  that  they 
were  the  mere  cruel  despots  he  makes  them  out  to 
be.  Their  Arianism  was  doubtless  their  gravest 
fault  in  his  eyes,  but  since  they  were  Arians  they 
must  have  been  also  Christians,  although  not  accept- 
ing the  shibboleths  of  Athanasius.  I  was  very  glad 
to  find  Mr.  Dudden  taking  this  view,  which  I  had  come 
to  independently,  and  thus  confirming  mine  by  his 
powerful  authority.  I  will  quote  his  words.  He  says : 
"  We  must  beware  lest  we  depict  the  miseries  of  the 
conquered  in  too  lurid  colours.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
the  Lombards,  at  any  rate  after  the  establishment  of 
the  monarchy,  appear  to  have  treated  the  population 
with  no  extraordinary  harshness.  .  .  .  Gregory's  own 
letters  furnish  us  with  proof  that  the  Lombard  rule 
was  less  oppressive  than  he  would  fain  make  out. 
Thus  we  hear  of  Roman  towns  entering  into  negotia- 
tions with  Lombard  dukes  with  a  view  to  becoming 
their  subjects,1  and  again  of  frequent  desertions  to 
the  enemy  of  Roman  freemen,  soldiers,  and  ecclesi- 
astics.2 In  another  letter  the  Pope  complains  that 
the  landowners  in  Corsica  were  compelled  to  take 
refuge  with  the  Lombards  in  order  to  escape  the 
intolerable  burden  of  Imperial  taxation.3  .  .  . 

1  E.  and  ff.  ii.  33.  *  Ib.  x.  5.  *  Id.  v.  38. 

2 


1 8  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

Doubtless  in  the  long-run  it  made  little  difference 
to  the  miserable  provincial  whether  he  was  at  the 
mercy  of  a  Lombard  chieftain  or  of  the  fiscal  vam- 
pires of  the  Roman  Empire."  1 

The  great  features  which  distinguished  the  Lom- 
bards in  addition  to  their  race,  language,  customs,  and 
arts  were,  first,  the  fact  that  while  the  Romans  were 
orthodox  the  Lombards  were  Arians  ;  and  secondly, 
as  Dr.  Bury  says,  "inasmuch  as  the  Lombards  were  a 
race  of  warriors  who  despised  agriculture,  they  at  first 
left  the  old  landowners  on  the  ground,  merely  exact- 
ing a  third  of  the  produce  as  tribute,  and  where  they 
took  the  land  cultivated  it  by  slaves,  thus  causing 
only  a  moderate  change  in  the  population." 

The  invasion  and  conquest  of  a  large  part  of  Italy 
by  the  Lombards  took  place  in  the  reign  of  Justin  the 
Second,  the  nephew  and  successor  of  Justinian. 
Justin  and  Pope  Benedict  the  First  both  died  in  the 
same  year,  i.e.  578  A.D.  The  former  was  succeeded 
by  Tiberius  the  Second,  surnamed  Constantine,  a 
Thracian  by  origin,  who  had  been  Captain  of  the 
Guards,  and  the  latter  by  Pelagius  the  Second,  who 
appointed  Gregory  as  Papal  Nuncio  at  Constanti- 
nople. Gregory's  chief  political  function  at  this  time 
was  no  doubt  to  continually  remind  the  Imperial 
authorities  of  the  evils  brought  upon  Italy  by  the 
rapacity  and  cruelty  of  the  Lombards,  with  which 
the  hapless  and  inefficient  Exarch  at  Ravenna  failed 
adequately  to  cope.  The  fact  was  that  his  master 
the  Emperor  could  not  spare  him  either  the  men 

1  Dudden,  op.  cit.  i.  174. 


ST.GREGORY  AS  NUNCIO  AT  CONSTANTINOPLE  1 9 

or  the  money,  for  his  hands  were  more  than  full 
with  his  struggles  against  the  Persians  and  the 
merciless  Avars.  In  585  Pope  Pelagius  wrote 
Gregory  a  letter1  addressed  to  his  dear  son  "the 
venerable  Deacon  Gregory "  (surely  no  monk),  to 
inform  him  of  what  was  going  on  in  Italy,  which 
letter  he  entrusted  to  Sebastian,  Bishop  of  Ravenna, 
who  was  to  tell  him  further  of  what  was  happen- 
ing there.  He  bids  him  implore  the  Emperor  to 
appoint  a  resident  and  local  Magister  Militum  or  a 
Dux,  i.e.  a  commander  of  some  weight,  to  protect  the 
city  from  the  Lombards,  for  the  Exarch  had  written 
to  say  he  could  do  nothing  for  him  as  he  could  not 
protect  his  own  border.  But  the  Emperor  had  his 
hands  too  full  of  his  own  troubles.  The  long-drawn- 
out  Persian  War  and  the  continual  assault  of  the 
Avars  had  to  be  met,  and  all  he  could  do  was  to  write 
to  the  Prankish  king,  Childebert,  offering  him  a  bribe 
of  50,000  gold  pieces  to  invade  Italy  and  punish  the 
Lombards.  Childebert  took  the  money,  crossed  the 
Alps  on  four  several  occasions,  and  apparently  did  his 
best  to  help  the  Emperor,  but  with  very  small  suc- 
cess. In  this  letter  the  Pope  further  bids  Gregory 
send  back  to  him  one  of  the  monks  of  his  monastery, 
whom  he  had  taken  with  him  and  whom  he  calls  a 
priest,  whose  presence  at  the  monastery  was  urgently 
needed  (quia  et  in  monasterio  tuo  et  in  opus  quod  eum 
praeposuimus  necessarius  esse}?  This  was  probably 
Maximianus,  one  of  the  monks  of  St.  Andrew's.  It 
would  seem  that  Hilarion,  the  Abbot  of  St.  Andrew's, 

1  E.  and  H.  vol.  ii.  App.  II.  *  Ib,  ii.  App.  II.  p.  441. 


20  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

was  dead,  and  the  Pope  wished  to  appoint  Maximi- 
anus  as  abbot. 

While  at  Constantinople,  Gregory  met  and 
became  a  close  friend  of  the  Spanish  bishop,  Leander,1 
who,  like  himself,  was  a  man  of  high  birth.  He  was 
a  contemporary  of  the  Visigothic  king,  Leovigild,  and 
had  apparently  gone  to  Constantinople  to  plead  the 
cause  of  Hermenigild,  the  son  of  Leovigild,  who  had 
abandoned  Arianism  and  rebelled  against  his  father. 

Like  Gregory's,  his  health  had  suffered  greatly 
from  his  austerities.  He  had  become  Bishop  of 
Seville  and  Metropolitan  of  Spain  in  579.  Ten 
years  later  he  presided  at  the  famous  Third  Council 
of  Toledo,  when  the  Spanish  Arians  gave  in  their 
adhesion  to  the  Catholic  faith,  having  been  converted 
to  orthodoxy  by  the  persuasion  of  Leander  and  his 
brethren.  The  letters  which  passed  between  the  two 
aristocratic  and  accomplished  ecclesiastics,  Gregory 
and  Leander,  are  delightful  specimens  of  genuine 
sympathy  and  affection.  Besides  Leander,  as  we 
learn  from  his  correspondence,  Gregory  made  several 
influential  friends  at  Constantinople,  with  whom 
he  afterwards  corresponded.  Among  others  were 
Constantina  the  Empress,  Theoctista,  the  Emperor's 
sister,  who  had  charge  of  the  Imperial  children, 
Narses,  Theodorus,  physician  to  the  Emperor, 
Gregoria,  Lady  of  the  Bedchamber  to  the  Empress, 
the  two  patrician  ladies  Clementina  and  Rusticiana, 
the  patrician  Johannes,  Philip,  the  commander  of  the 
Bodyguard,  and  Domitian,  Bishop  of  Melitene  and 

1  Vide  infra. 


LITERARY  WORK  AT  CONSTANTINOPLE     21 

Metropolitan  of  Lesser  Armenia,  a  relative  of  the 
Emperor — that  is  to  say,  some  of  the  noblest  and 
most  influential  people  at  the  Byzantine  Court. 

Gregory  was,  as  we  have  seen,  a  great  devotee 
and  champion  of  the  austere  life  and  of  the  con- 
templative  virtues  of  the  coenobites  and   monks. 
He  tells  us  that  in   order   that   he   might  not  be 
too   much   immersed   in    secular   matters  when  at 
Constantinople,  he  took  with  him  some  monks,  no 
doubt   from   his   own    Monastery  of   St.  Andrew, 
including  his  friend    Maximianus,  who  afterwards 
became  its  abbot.     He  hoped  that  their  austere  life 
might  continually  remind  him  of  better  things,  and 
in  the  preface  to  his  Moralia  he  speaks   of  the 
peace  he  found  in  their  company  when  troubled 
by  the  turmoil  of  the  outer  world.     These  homely 
friends    of    his    were,    however,    not    allowed    to 
stay  too  long,  nor  would  it  have  been  reasonable 
that  they  should,  since  the  monastery  could  hardly 
get  on  without  them.     Gregory  tells  us,  in  his  Dia- 
logues? how  the  ship  in  which  they  sailed  was  over- 
taken by  a  tempest  in  the  Adriatic,  during  which  the 
sails  and  masts  were  lost,  and  the  water  in  the  hold 
reached  the  deck.    The  sailors  and  passengers  gave 
up  hope  of  being  saved,  exchanged  the  kiss  of  peace, 
and  received  the  Sacrament.     The  ship,  neverthe- 
less, escaped,  and  after  eight  days'  peril  reached 
Crotona,  and  then  immediately  sank. 

Gregory's  literary  activity  when  atConstantinople 
was  phenomenal.     Inter  alia,  at  the  instance  of  his 
1  iii.  36  ;  John  the  Deacon,  i.  33. 


22  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

friend  Leander,  he  wrote  a  work  on  Job  in  thirty- 
five  books,  with  mystical  interpretations.  This  is 
the  well-known  Magna  Moralia,  with  which  his 
name  is  so  closely  connected.  In  sending  a  copy  to 
Leander,  to  whom  it  was  dedicated,  he  tells  him  that 
the  work  had  been  delivered  in  a  series  of  homilies, 
and  that  he  had  afterwards  put  it  in  the  form  of  a 
treatise  which  was  being  written  out  by  scribes.1 

The  miseries  and  misfortunes  of  Job  were  a 
perpetual  source  of  consolation  and  example  to  the 
ascetics,  who  looked  on  self-inflicted  suffering  and 
misery  as  the  highest  form  of  virtue.  Its  fine  poetry 
and  high  ideals  had  previously  attracted  others  : 
notably  Origen,  and  we  find  Licinianus,  Bishop 
of  Carthagena  in  Spain,  writing  to  Gregory  about 
St.  Hilary  of  Poictiers'  translation  of  Origen's  com- 
mentary on  Job  in  six  books.  He  remarks  that  he 
cannot  understand  how  a  man  so  learned  and  holy 
should  have  accepted  Origen's  tales  about  the  stars. 
"I,  most  holy  father,"  he  says,  "can  in  nowise 
be  persuaded  that  the  heavenly  luminaries  are 
rational  spirits."2 

While  at  Constantinople,  Gregory  also  had  a 
controversy  with  Eutychius,  who  was  then  Patriarch 
there,  and  who  on  the  authority  of  i  Cor.  xv.  44 
claimed  that  Christ's  risen  body  was  a  spiritual  and 
immaterial  body  only.  To  this  Gregory  replied  by 
quoting  Luke  xxix.  39,  where  Christ  tells  the 
sceptical  to  handle  him  and  see.  A  ghostly  body, 
he  urged,  has  neither  flesh  nor  bones  which  can  be 

1  E.  andH.  \.  41.  a  Ib.  i.  4ia. 


SAINT  GREGORY'S  EXPERIENCES  23 

touched  or  seen.  Eutychius  claimed,  on  the  other 
hand,  that  such  a  body  was  cognisable  by  faith,  and 
he  especially  quoted  i  Cor.  xv.  6,  37,  and  i  Cor. 
xiii.  50,  which  seem  conclusive.  The  able  and 
rhetorical  Italian  turned  the  flank  of  his  opponent 
by  the  reply  that  what  Paul  meant  was  the  substitu- 
tion of  a  mundane  by  a  glorified  and  yet  a  real 
material  body.  Whatever  the  value  of  the  dis- 
cussion, the  Emperor  gave  his  decision  for  Gregory, 
and  the  book  which  Eutychius  had  written  was 
burnt.  Eutychius  on  his  sick-bed  recanted  and 
confessed  his  faith  in  the  material  resurrection  of 
the  body.  Holding  one  hand  on  the  other  he  said 
to  those  around  him,  "  With  this  body  we  shall  rise 
again." 

The  controversy  had  been  so  energetically 
pressed  that  both  combatants  became  ill  and  took 
to  their  beds.  Soon  after,  i.e.  582,  Eutychius  died, 
and  was  succeeded  as  Patriarch  of  Constantinople 
by  John,  called  "  the  Faster,"  so  called,  according  to 
Theophylactus,  because  he  had  "completely  acquired 
a  philosophic  mastery  over  pleasure,  a  tyrannical 
authority  over  the  passions,  and  had  made  himself 
a  despot  over  his  appetites."1 

The  Emperor  Tiberius  died  in  582,  and  was 
succeeded  by  Maurice,  who  had  married  his  daughter 
Constantina,  and  who,  like  himself,  had  been  Captain 
of  the  Guards. 

While  Gregory  lived  at  Constantinople  he  had 
ample  time  and  opportunities  for  studying  the  erratic 

1  Theoph.  Hist.  vii.  6  ;  Dudden,  i.  144. 


24  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

diplomacy  of  the  Byzantine  Court,  and  he  seems  to 
have  ingratiated  himself  with  the  Emperor,  for  we 
are  told  by  Gregory  of  Tours  that  he  became  the 
godfather  of  one  of  his  sons,  who  was  named 
Theodosius.  In  a  letter  written  to  Theoctista,  the 
sister  of  the  Emperor  Maurice,  in  60 1,  Gregory  re- 
calls some  of  his  troubles  when  at  the  capital.  He 
writes  of  the  polemical  Greeks  among  whom  he  had 
lived  :  "  There  are  many  orthodox  people  who  are 
inflamed  with  misguided  zeal,  and  fancy  they  are  fight- 
ing heretics  while  really  they  are  creating  heresies." 
Again,  he  tells  us  that  when  he  was  in  residence 
at  the  Imperial  City,  many  used  to  come  to  him 
who  had  been  accused  on  certain  points,  and  whom 
he  had  found  innocent,  and  had  kindly  received 
and  defended  from  their  accusers.  Among  these 
charges,  he  adds,  were  that  under  pretence  of 
entering  into  religion  they  were  wont  to  dissolve 
marriages ;  that  they  held  that  baptism  did  not 
entirely  take  away  sins  ;  that  if  any  one  did  penance 
for  three  years  for  his  iniquities  he  might  afterwards 
live  perversely ;  and  that  if  they  said  under  compulsion 
that  they  anathematised  anything  for  which  they  were 
blamed,  they  were  notboundbythe  bond  of  anathema. 
On  these  charges  Gregory  goes  on  to  comment  that 
if  there  had  been  people  holding  such  views  they 
would  not  have  been  Christians,  and  would  them- 
selves have  been  anathematised  by  himself  and  all 
Catholic  bishops,  and  by  the  Universal  Church.1 
Gregory's  residence  at  Constantinople  was,  no 

1  E.  and  H.  xi.  27  ;  Barmby,  Epp.  of  Greg  xi.  45. 


THE  QUESTION  OF  "  THE  THREE  CHAPTERS  "    2  5 

doubt,  very  tiresome  to  him,  and  it  was  perhaps  at 
his  own  instance  that  the  Pope  recalled  him  and  that 
he  returned  to  Rome,  where  we  find  him  again  in  the 
year  585  or  586.  Baronius,  quoting  a  Vatican  MS., 
tells  us  that  the  Emperor  had  given  him  some  relics 
which  he  took  back  with  himfor  his  monastery — inter 
alia,  the  arm  of  St.  Andrew  and  the  head  of  St.  Luke.1 
The  former,  according  to  Butler,  still  remains  in  its 
old  place,  but  the  latter  is  now  preserved  at  St. 
Peter's.  St.  Andrew's  Monastery  was  at  this  time 
presided  over  by  the  Abbot  Maximianus,  who  re- 
mained its  head  till  the  year  591,  when  he  was 
appointed  Bishop  of  Syracuse. 

It  would  seem  that  on  his  arrival  at  Rome 
Gregory  was  appointed  his  secretary  by  the  Pope, 
for  Paul  the  Deacon,  in  his  History  of  the  Lombards* 
tells  us  that,  "  while  he  was  still  deacon,"  Gregory 
wrote  three  notable  letters  addressed  on  behalf  of 
Pope  Pelagius  to  the  Bishop  of  Istria  on  the  famous 
schism  of  "  The  Three  Chapters."  These  letters  are 
dated  by  Ewald  and  Hartmann  in  585  and  586  A.D.3 
The  subject-matter  had  caused  great  heartburning 
at  the  time,  and  was  in  essence  perhaps  the  most 
undisguised  and  Erastian  interference  by  the  lay 
authorities  with  the  ecclesiastical  functions  of  the 
clergy  on  record.  In  order  to  conciliate  the  Mono- 
physites  whom  he  wished  to  draw  into  the  orthodox 
fold,  Justinian,  at  the  instance  of  a  disingenuous 
ecclesiastic,  Theodore  Askidas,  and  of  the  Empress 

1  See  Baronius,  ad  an.  586,  24. 

*  Vol.  iii.  20.  3  Op.  cit.  ii.  App.  III. 


26  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

Theodora,  had  compelled  the  heads  of  the  Church, 
including  not  only  his  own  Patriarch  at  Constan- 
tinople, but  also  the  Pope,  to  pronounce  as  heretical 
parts  of  the  decrees  of  the  Council  of  Chalcedon.  In 
these  decrees,  the  views  of  Theodore  of  Mopsuepsia, 
Theodoret  of  Cyrrhus,  and  I  has  of  Edessa,  which 
had  been  challenged  as  tainted  with  Nestorianism, 
but  which  that  Council  had  refused  to  condemn, 
were  virtually  affirmed.  Justinian  had  his  way,  but 
only  after  exercising  the  grossest  cruelty  and  durance 
upon  the  bishops  and  other  great  ecclesiastics,  who 
in  the  matter  had  represented  the  views  of  the  greater 
part  of  the  Orthodox  Church.  Notwithstanding  the 
tremendous  penalties  of  disobedience,  a  large  number 
of  the  clergy  in  Africa,  Illyricum,  and  Upper  Italy, 
including  the  archbishops  of  Milan  and  Aquileia, 
refused  to  obey  or  to  recognise  the  capacity  of  those 
who  had  tampered  with  the  finding  of  the  Council. 
The  Latin  Church  (however  unwillingly)  was,  how- 
ever, compromised  by  the  surrender  of  Pope  Vigilius 
and  subsequently  by  that  of  Pelagius,  his  successor, 
and  the  deletion  of  "TheThreeChapters"  was  exacted 
as  a  test  of  orthodoxy  by  Gregory,  who  wrote  a  dis- 
ingenuous but  clever  Apologia  for  the  action  taken  by 
his  predecessors  in  regard  to  this  Council.  In  this 
Apologia  Gregory,  on  behalf  of  Pope  Pelagius  and 
following  Leo  the  First,  made  a  sharp  distinction 
between  the  decrees  of  the  Council  regarding 
dogma  and  doctrine  and  those  relating  to  private 
and  personal  matters,  maintaining  that  while  the 
former  were  decisive  the  latter  could  be  revised. 


THE  QUESTION  OF  «  THE  THREE  CHAPTERS  "27 

Pope  Leo  had  urged  that  this  was  notably  the  case 
in  regard  to  the  decision  of  the  Council  on  the  status 
and  position  of  the  See  of  Constantinople,  which  he 
rejected.  Gregory  for  similar  reasons  professed  to 
reject  the  Council's  decision  in  regard  to  the  case  of 
Theodoret  and  I  has.  He  further  argued  that  by  its 
decision  the  Council  had  clearly  not  approved  of  all 
the  writings  of  the  three  bishops,  or  it  would  have 
put  itself  in  opposition  to  the  Council  of  Ephesus  ; 
nor  had  all  Theodoret's  writings  been  otherwise 
condemned,  but  only  those  deemed  to  be  tainted 
with  Nestorianism.1 

In  regard  to  this  famous  question,  the  Latin 
bishops  for  the  most  part  supported  the  Holy  See. 
Justinian  crushed  the  opposition  in  Illyricum  by  de- 
posing the  Bishop  of  Salona,  who  was  Metropolitan 
of  Dalmatia.  Africa  conformed  in  559  A.D.  and  the 
diocese  of  Milan  in  571,  but  that  of  Istria  remained 
intractable.  Its  leader  was  then  the  Archbishop  of 
Aquileia,  to  whom  the  letters  written  by  Gregory  in 
the  name  of  Pope  Pelagius,  above  mentioned,  were 
addressed.  The  appeal  was  of  no  effect,  and  the  schism 
really  lived  on  till  the  year  700.  When  he  became 
Pope,  Gregory,  supported  by  the  Emperor,  ordered 
the  recalcitrant  bishops  of  Istria  to  attend  a  synod 
at  Rome,  but  they  resisted  the  demand,  summoned 
a  synod  of  their  own,  and  petitioned  the  Emperor  to 
revoke  his  order,  as  they  were  only  teaching  what 
Pope  Vigilius  had  taught  them ;  and  objecting  to  be 
tried  by  the  Pope,  who  was  a  prejudiced  person. 

1  E.  and H.  \\.  49,  and  App.  III.  letters  i.,  ii.,  and  iii. 


28  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

They  promised  to  satisfy  Maurice  of  the  purity  of 
their  faith.  The  Emperor  complied,  and  commanded 
Gregory,  in  consideration  of  the  troubled  state  of 
politics,  not  to  molest  the  Istrian  bishops,  and  the 
Pope  at  once  obeyed.  It  is  a  curious  fact  that 
although  she  was  so  devoted  to  him  in  other  matters, 
Gregory  was  never  able  to  secure  the  adherence  of 
his  patroness  and  friend  the  Lombard  queen,  Theo- 
delinda,  to  his  view  on  the  question  of  "  The  Three 
Chapters." 

While  acting  as  secretary  to  the  Pope,  Gregory 
apparently  also  devoted  himself  to  giving  lectures 
on  various  parts  of  the  Old  Testament.  Thus,  he 
expounded  the  Heptateuch,  the  Books  of  Kings,  the 
Prophets,  Proverbs,  and  Canticles.  Notes  of  his 
lectures  were  taken  down  by  a  student  called 
Claudius,  which  Gregory  himself  intended  to  correct, 
but  was  probably  not  able  to  do  so.  The  notes  of 
Claudius  on  Canticles  are  apparently  extant,  while 
the  rest  are  lost.1  Probably  at  this  time  Gregory 
also  edited  and  published  the  work  he  had  written 
on  Job  at  Constantinople. 

It  is  also  to  this  period  of  Gregory's  life,  when 
he  was  acting  as  papal  secretary,  that  has  generally 
been  assigned  the  doubtful  story  in  which  his  name 
occurs  so  prominently,  in  connection  with  certain 
Anglian  slaves  from  far-off  Britain  whom  he  is  said 
to  have  seen  at  Rome,  and  which  it  will  be  more 
convenient  to  discuss  later  on. 

1  See  Dudden,  i.  191  and  note  4. 


CHAPTER    II 

WE  have  now  reached  the  critical  stage  in 
Gregory's  life  when  he  became  Pope.  According 
to  the  report  of  Gregory  of  Tours,  who  learnt  it 
from  his  own  envoy,  a  deacon  then  at  Rome,  the 
Tiber,  in  November  589,  overflowed  its  banks  and 
destroyed  many  ancient  buildings  and  overwhelmed 
some  of  the  Church's  granaries  on  the  banks  of  the 
river,  causing  the  loss  of  many  thousands  of  measures 
of  corn.  This  was  one  of  a  series  of  inundations 
which,  according  to  Paul  the  Deacon,1  were  followed 
by  a  pestilence  known  as  the  lues  inguinaria^  i.e.  the 
Oriental  plague  which  had  been  desolating  Eastern 
Europe  for  fifty  years.  Among  its  victims  was  Pope 
Pelagius,  who  died  on  the  7th  or  8th  of  February  59O.2 
There  was  only  one  possible  successor  in  such  a 
crisis,  and  we  are  told  that  Gregory  was  elected  to 
the  vacancy  with  the  universal  approbation  of  clergy, 
senate  (by  which  the  magnates  are  meant,  for  the 
senate  was  now  dead),  and  people,  but  very  much  in- 

1  Vit.  x.  I. 

1  It  has  been  said  that  there  was  an  interval  of  several  months 
before  his  successor  was  appointed,  during  which  the  Archpresbyter, 
Archdeacon,  and  the  Primicerius  Notariorum  acted  as  vicegerents  of 
the  see  ;  but  Gregory  of  Tours  distinctly  says  that  on  the  death  of 
Pelagius,  as  the  Church  of  God  could  not  remain  without  a  head,  all 
the  people  elected  the  deacon  Gregory  (op.  cit.  x.  i). 


30  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

deed  against  his  own  inclination,  and  that  he  did  his 
utmost  to  escape  from  the  position.  Gibbon  indulges 
in  some  sneers  at  the  motives  of  the  Pope.  "  Nolo 
episcopari"  was  a  plea  which  that  cynical  historian 
was  very  dubious  about.  On  this  occasion  his 
generally  shrewd  sense  was  affected  by  his  prejudices. 
It  seems  impossible  for  any  one  who  reads  Gregory's 
correspondence  with  his  intimate  friends,  and  the 
deprecatory  rebukes  with  which  he  answers  their 
congratulations,  to  doubt  his  sincerity  in  the  matter. 
Be  it  remembered  he  had  given  up  great  rank  and 
wealth,  and  everything  which  ambitious  men  deem 
valuable,  to  adopt  a  life  where  the  hardest  fare  and 
the  greatest  privations  were  his  portion.  He  was 
the  strictest  of  the  strict  in  the  observance  of  the 
rigid  rules  he  had  imposed  on  himself.  On  every 
occasion  when  he  was  brought  out  of  his  retreat  into 
a  position  of  prominence,  he  spoke  in  the  same  tone 
to  his  friends  as  he  did  in  the  prefaces  to  his  books. 
To  Theoctista,  the  sister  of  the  Emperor,  he  wrote 
how  he  had  lost  the  profound  joys  of  repose,  and  how 
that  while  he  had  been  elevated  in  external  things  he 

o 

had  been  sunk  in  spiritual  ones.  "  I  endeavoured," 
he  says,  "  daily  to  withdraw  from  the  world  and  from 
the  flesh,  to  see  the  heavenly  joys  in  the  spirit  .  .  . 
neither  desiring  nor  having  anything  in  this  world, 
I  felt  myself  above  everything.  But  the  storm  of 
temptation  has  cast  me  suddenly  among  alarms  and 
terrors,  for  though  I  fear  nothing  for  myself,  I  fear 
much  for  those  of  whom  I  have  the  charge." *  To  the 

1  E.  and  H.  i.  5. 


ST.  GREGORY'S  OBJECTIONS  TO  BECOME  POPE  3 1 

Patrician  Narses  he  writes:  "  I  am  so  overcome  with 
melancholy  that  I  can  scarcely  speak  ;  the  darkness  of 
grief  assails  the  eyes  of  my  soul.  I  see  nothing  that  is 
notsad,  andevery  thing  which  is  supposed  to  please  me 
appears  to  me  lamentable.  For  I  cannot  care  to  think 
from  what  a  height  of  tranquillity  I  have  fallen,  and 
to  what  a  height  of  embarrassment  I  have  ascended"; 
and  he  speaks  of  having  been  set  to  plough  the  Lord's 
fold  "like  a  buffalo" — in  agro  dominico  cum  bubalis 
arares.1  To  a  certain  Andrew,  styled  Illustrious, 
he  writes  :  "  When  you  hear  of  my  promotion  to  the 
Episcopate,  weep  if  you  love  me,  for  there  are  so 
many  temporal  occupations  here  that  I  find  myself 
by  this  dignity  almost  separated  from  the  love  of 
God."2  To  the  Patrician  John,  who  also  helped  in 
his  election,  he  wrote  :  "I  complain  of  your  love 
which  has  drawn  me  from  the  repose  which  you 
know  I  sought.  God  reward  you  with  direct  gifts 
for  your  good  intentions,  but  I  pray  Him  deliver  me 
as  He  will  please  from  so  many  perils."  He  says, 
further,  that  he  had  been  appointed  Bishop,  not  of 
the  Romans,  but  of  the  Lombards.3  To  his  very 
confidential  friend,  the  Bishop  Leander,  he  says  :  "  I 
weep  when  I  recall  the  peaceful  shore  which  I  have 
left,  and  sigh  in  perceiving  afore,  that  which  I  cannot 
attain."4  But  it  is  in  writing  to  the  subdeacon, 
Peter, — his  pupil  and  companion, — whom  he  could 
hardly  hope  to  deceive,  that  he  breaks  out  patheti- 
cally when  he  recalls  his  old  life  in  the  monastery, 
in  which  he  could  escape  from  earthly  cares  instead 

1  E.  andH.  \.  6.  2  Ib.  i.  29.  3  Id.  i.  30.  *  Id.  i.  41. 


32 

of  being  soiled  with  the  world's  dust :  "  I  meditate 
on  all  I  have  suffered  and  lost.  When  I  think  of  my 
former  life,  I  seem  to  look  back  towards  the  shore." 
Those  who  are  not  convinced  of  the  sincerity  of 
these  phrases  do  not  understand  the  fervour  and 
zest  which  at  this  time  possessed  the  best  of  men  in 
all  stations,  who  despaired  of  the  world  and  saw 
everything  being  shipwrecked,  to  shrink  away 
into  the  cell  of  the  anchorite  and  there  find  peace 
and  solace.  And  what  temptation  was  there  for 
the  most  ambitious  man  at  this  time  to  desire  to 
become  Bishop  of  Rome.  Plague  and  pestilence 
and  famine  were  ravaging  the  land,  which  had  been 
trampled  over  by  hordes  of  barbarians  until  its 
wealth  was  stripped  from  it  and  its  population 
decimated.  The  Lombards  possessed  its  best  por- 
tions, and  were  aggressive  and  hard.  Mr.  Dudden 
has  collected  from  different  passages  in  the  Dia- 
logues a  graphic  if  exaggerated  picture  of  the 
unsettled  condition  of  the  country  during  the  domi- 
nation of  the  Goths  and  the  Lombards,  who  had 
devastated  it  so  ruthlessly.  They  roamed  about  the 
villages  in  twos  and  threes,  pillaging  or  murdering 
all  who  were  not  strong  enough  to  resist  them.  The 
roads  were  especially  unsafe,  and  the  haunts  of  robbers. 
Children  were  kidnapped  and  carried  off  even  in  the 
midst  of  towns.  Sometimes  towns  themselves,  like 
Aquino  and  Populonia,  were  ravaged.  Wealthy 
monasteries  were  attacked  and  the  monks  tortured 
or  put  to  death.  The  Lombards  on  one  occasion 
murdered  forty  peasants  because  they  refused  to 


ST.  GREGORY'S  OBJECTIONS  TO  BECOME  POPE  3  3 

eat  meats  sacrificed  to  their  gods ;  on  another  they 
slew  four  hundred  people  who  would  not  adore  the 
goat's  head  which,  according  to  their  custom,  they 
sacrificed  to  the  devil  (i.e.  to  their  god),  dancing 
round  it  in  circles  and  dedicating  it  with  blasphem- 
ous songs.1     These  stories  point  to  the  fact  that 
many  of  the  Lombards  were  still  unconverted  pagans 
and  were  not  all  Arians.    On  one  occasion  they  hung 
up  two  monks  on  one  tree,  and  on  another  beheaded 
a  deacon.2     As  we  shall  see  presently,  this  account 
of  the  doings  of  the  Lombards  is  somewhat  highly 
coloured.     The  natural  consequence  of  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  wealthy  classes,  and  of  the  stoppage  of 
the  eleemosynary  agencies  they  supported,  was  that 
the  peninsula,  as  on  former  occasions,  was  filled  with 
swarms  of  vagabonds  and  beggars,  the  counterparts 
of  the  sturdy  beggars  in  Elizabeth's  time  in  England. 
Among  Gregory's  other  troubles  were  the  heretics 
who  repudiated  his  jurisdiction  in  spiritual  things. 
The  Monophysite  schism,  which  was  a  special  grief 
to  him,  had  still  many  adherents,  and,  as  we  shall 
see   later   on,  the   orthodoxy  of  the    Franks  was 
tempered  with  many  drawbacks  besides  the  rude, 
illiterate   barbarism  of  their  community.      Every- 
where were  difficulties  and  there  was  none  to  help, 
for  the  Emperor  seemed  to  care  little  what  became 
of  the  Western  lands,  where  his  jurisdiction  was  no 
longer  obeyed,  and  whence  he  now  derived  scant 
profit   and   great   cares,    while   the   race   of  great 
Italians  seemed    to  be  extinct.      No  wonder  the 

1  Dialogues^  iii.  27,  28.  2  Dudden,  i.  344. 

3 


34  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

recluse,  theologian,  and  far-seeing  statesman  dreaded 
taking  the  helm  in  such  a  sea,  and  that  (to  use  his 
phrase)  he  heard  the  bell  of  shipwreck  ringing,  and 
despaired  of  what  he  called  "  the  rotten  old  vessel 
of  which  God  had  given  him  the  charge."  No 
wonder  he  tried  to  escape  from  the  load,  and,  as 
his  actual  contemporary  and  namesake,  Gregory  of 
Tours,  tells  us,  he  wrote  to  the  Emperor  to  ask  him 
to  refuse  to  confirm  his  election.1  Germanus,  the 
Praefect  of  Rome,  however,  intercepted  the  letter  and 
wrote  on  his  own  account  to  press  upon  Maurice  the 
duty  of  giving  the  Church  a  strong  head  in  these 
woeful  times.  The  Emperor's  confirmation  having 
arrived,  we  are  told  in  a  suspicious  legend  that 
Gregory  took  to  flight  disguised,  and  wandered  for 
three  days  in  the  woods.  He  was  again'  followed 
and  brought  back,  and  eventually  planted  on  the 
fateful  seat  at  St.  Peter's.2 

Once  there,  he  faced  the  position  like  a  man,  and, 
in  fact,  he  seems  to  me  the  only  man  of  his  time 
who  does  stand  upright,  and  who  unflinchingly  did 
his  duty  in  the  presence  of  desperate  difficulties. 
It  has  generally  been  argued  that  Gregory,  previous 
to  being  Pope,  had  been  Abbot  of  St.  Andrew's. 
This  is  quite  unsupported  by  tangible  evidence. 
There  is  no  room  for  him  among  the  abbots  of  the 

1  Since  the  time  of  Justinian  the  emperors  had  claimed  the  right 
of  confirming  the  election  to  the  more  important  sees,  and  notably 
to  that  of  Rome. 

2  The  date  of  Gregory's  accession  has  been  discussed  recently  by 
Bright  (page  41,  note  8)  and  Plummer  (Bede,  vol.  ii.  36).     It  seems 
pretty  certain  that  it,  in  fact,  took  place  on  the  3rd  September  590, 
which  was  a  Sunday. 


SAINT  GREGORY'S  ELECTION  AS  POPE      35 

monastery.  Maximianus  was,  in  fact,  abbot  while 
Gregory  was  at  Constantinople,  and  was  promoted 
thence  to  the  See  of  Syracuse  in  591.  The  date  of 
Gregory's  election  to  the  papal  chair  was  the  3rd  of 
September  590.  It  seems  pretty  certain  that  (as 
we  have  seen)  at  the  time  of  his  elevation,  Gregory 
was  not  even  a  professed  monk,  and  that  he  was 
still  a  deacon.  On  his  election  he  necessarily  became 
priest  and  bishop.  His  public  profession  of  faith  at 
the  tomb  of  St.  Peter  on  the  occasion  of  his  becoming 
Pope  is  interesting,  if  it  is  genuine.  It  is  quoted  by 
John  the  Deacon,  who  is  not  always  a  safe  guide,  and 
it  gives  the  clauses  Deum  verum  de  deo  vero  and  Filio- 
que,  which  first  occur  in  the  West  in  the  pronounce- 
ment of  the  Synod  of  Toledo  in  589.  I  hope  to  dis- 
cuss the  question  in  the  Appendix.  It  runs  thus  : — 

"  I  believe  in  one  God  Almighty,  the  Father,  the 
Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  three  Persons,  one  Sub- 
stance :  the  Father  unbegotten,  the  Son  unbegotten, 
but  the  Holy  Spirit,  neither  begotten  nor  unbe- 
gotten, but  co-eternal  with  and  proceeding  from  the 
Father  and  the  Son.  I  acknowledge  the  only 
begotten  Son,  consubstantial  with  the  Father,  and 
born  of  the  Father  without  time  ;  Maker  of  all  things 

o 

visible  and  invisible,  Light  from  (ex)  Light,  True  God 
of  True  God,  the  Brightness  of  His  glory,  the  Image 
of  His  Substance  :  Who  remaining  the  Word  before 
all  ages,  was  made  perfect  Man  at  the  end  of  the  ages, 
and  was  conceived  and  born  from^)  the  Holy  Ghost, 
and  of  (de)  the  Virgin  Mary,  and  took  upon  Him  our 


36  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

nature  without  sin  :  and  He  was  crucified  under 
Pontius  Pilate  and  was  buried,  and  on  the  third  day 
He  rose  again  from  the  dead,  and  on  the  fortieth 
day  He  ascended  into  heaven,  and  He  sitteth  at 
the  right  hand  of  the  Father.  From  thence  He 
shall  come  to  judge  the  quick  and  the  dead,  and  He 
shall  set  before  all  eyes  all  the  secrets  of  every 
heart,  and  He  shall  give  to  the  righteous  the 
eternal  rewards  of  the  heavenly  kingdom,  but  to  the 
wicked  the  punishment  of  everlasting  fire,  and  He 
shall  renew  the  world  by  faith  at  the  resurrection  of 
the  flesh.  I  acknowledge  one  Faith,  one  Baptism, 
one  Apostolic  and  Universal  Church  in  which  alone 
sins  can  be  forgiven  in  the  name  of  the  Father  and 
of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost."  l 

Gregory's  appearance  is  described  for  us  in 
some  detail  by  his  biographer  John  the  Deacon, 
from  a  portrait  of  him  at  St.  Andrew's,  which  was 
painted  on  a  circle  of  stucco  in  an  apse  behind  the 
monks'  "cellarium,"  and  which  was  extant  when  John 
wrote  in  the  ninth  century.  He  conjectures  that 
it  was  painted  in  the  Saint's  lifetime  from  the  in- 
scription appended  to  it,  and  also  from  the  fact 
that  instead  of  a  "corona,"  or  nimbus,  it  had  a 
tabula  or  square  frame  about  the  head  denoting  a 
living  person.2  His  figure  is  described  as  of  medium 
height  and  well-made.  Gregory  speaks  of  himself 
as  mei  molem  corporis^  suggesting  that  he  was  of  full 
body.  His  beard  was  tawny  and  sparse.  About  his 

1  Job.  Diac.  Vit.  ii.  2  ;  Dudden,  i.  222.  2  Op.  cit.  iv.  84. 


SAINT  GREGORY'S  APPEARANCE  37 

large,  round  crown  he  had  dark  hair,  curled  and 
hanging  below  the  middle  of  the  ears.  On  his  fore- 
head, which  was  broad  and  high,  were  two  little 
curls  turning  towards  the  right.  The  pupils  of  the 
eyes  were  of  a  yellow-brown  colour  and  small. 
The  eyebrows  arched,  long,  and  thin,  the  lower  eye- 
lids full.  The  nose  aquiline,  with  open  nostrils,  the 
cheeks  were  regular,  the  lips  ruddy  and  full,  the  chin 
prominent.  The  complexion  was  swarthy  and  also 
highly  coloured,  which  latter  colour  was  enhanced 
in  later  life.  The  expression  was  gentle.  His 
hands  were  well  formed,  with  tapering  fingers  "well 
adapted  for  handling  a  pen."  In  the  picture  he  was 
represented  standing,  dressed  in  a  chestnut-coloured 
planeta  (an  upper  garment  formed  of  a  circle  with 
a  hole  in  the  middle,  through  which  the  head 
was  passed,  i.e.  a  chasuble).  This  was  worn  over 
a  "dalmatic,"  or  long  tunic  with  sleeves.  These 
garments  were  then  used  by  laymen  as  well  as  the 
clergy,  and  Gregory's  own  father  was  represented 
as  wearing  them.  The  dalmatic  long  survived  as 
a  ceremonial  garment  used  by  state  officials,  and 
Gordian  may  have  worn  it  as  a  regionarius.  It  still 
forms  part  of  the  Coronation  robes  in  England  and 
elsewhere.  In  the  picture  the  Pope  was  distin- 
guished from  his  father  by  wearing  %.pallium>  or  pall, 
which  probably  marked  his  ecclesiastical  position  as 
a  metropolitan.  He  was  also  represented  as  hold- 
ing a  book  of  the  Gospels  in  his  right  hand,  and 
making  a  cross  with  the  other. 

John  the    Deacon   elsewhere  describes  one  of 


38  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

Gregory '§  pallia  which  still  existed  in  his  time.  It 
differed  from  other  palls  in  having  no  ornaments, 
being  merely  a  narrow  strip  of  white  linen  unem- 
broidered.1  We  shall  have  more  to  say  of  palls  and 
their  meaning  presently. 

John  the  Deacon 2  also  speaks  of  the  modest 
phylacta  "hung  from  his  neck  by  a  piece  of  poor 
cloth,  and  of  his  narrow  belt,  only  a  thumb  in  width." 
The  phylactae  were  really  charms  written  on  small 
pieces  of  parchment,  or  relics,  in  either  case  enclosed 
in  small  boxes  of  thin  silver.  I  n  one  instance  Gregory 
tells  us  he  sent  to  Theodelinda,  the  Lombard  queen, 
a  "filacta"  (sic)  containing  a  fragment  of  the  true 
cross,  and  a  lection  from  the  Gospel,  enclosed  in  a 
cross  and  wrapped  in  a  Persian  case  (theca  Persica)? 
Gregory's  homely  dress  was  matched  by  the  ascetic 
standards  of  his  living,  and  the  only  indulgence  we 
read  of  in  regard  to  his  food  was  the  Alexandrian  wine 
he  calls  cognidium,  which  was  flavoured  with  resin. 
Thus,  in  answering  a  letter  of  the  Patriarch  of  Alex- 
andria, who  had  apparently  offered  to  send  him  some 
drinks  called  collatum  and  viritkeum,  he  replied  that 
he  did  not  drink  these  beverages  with  pleasure,  but  he 
ventured  to  ask  for  some  cognidium,  which  Eulogius 
had  again,  after  a  long  interval,  caused  to  be  known 

1  John  further  describes  how  the  pall  was  then  worn.  He  says  : 
"A  dextro  videlicit  humero  sub  pectore  super  stomachum  circulatim 
deducto ;  deinde  sursum  per  sinistrum  humerum  post  tergum 
deposito,  cujus  pars  altera  super  eundem  humerum  veniens  propria 
rectitudine,  non  per  medium  corporis,  sed  ex  latere  pendet."  This 
shows  that  the  front  lappet  in  the  picture  hung  by  the  left  side  and 
not  in  front,  as  is  now  usual  (  Vit,  ch.  80 ;  Dudden,  i.  435). 

a  Vit.  iv.  80.  3  E.  and  H.  xiv.  12. 


ST.  GREGORY'S  ATTENDANTS  AND  FRIENDS     39 

in  the  City  ;  but  at  Rome  they  got  the  name  but  not 
the  thing  itself  from  the  merchants.1  It  is  pleasant 
to  find  the  Pope  with  one  human  foible  at  least. 

Directly  he  became  Pope,  Gregory  instituted  a 
great  change  in  the  papal  household,  substituting 
clerics,  and  principally  monks,  for  lay  attendants. 
The  officials  who  looked  after  "the  patrimony" 
were  also  similarly  changed.  In  the  latter  case, 
not  so  prudently,  for  clerics  are  generally  poor  busi- 
ness men,  and  the  later  history  of  the  Papacy  is 
marked  by  the  evils  attending  clerical  control  of  lay 
affairs.  In  the  wide  papal  lands,  "  nothing,"  says 
Dudden,  "  was  left  for  laymen  but  the  profession  of 
arms  and  the  occupation  of  agriculture." 

Gregory  surrounded  himself  with  what,  in  his 
view,  were  the  most  learned  men,  who  (with  him) 
meant  theologians  :  he  found  most  of  them  among 
the  members  of  his  monastic  family  at  St.  Andrew's.2 

Let  us  now  try  and  realise  the  extent  and  kind 
of  authority  Gregory  inherited  as  Pope.  Nominally 
he  was  one  of  five  patriarchs,  among  whom  the 
superintendence  and  government  of  the  Christian 
world  was  distributed,  namely,  the  heads  of  the 

1  E.  and  H.  vii.  37. 

2  Among  his  intimates  were  the  Sub-deacon  Peter,  of  whom  we 
shall  hear  more  presently ;  Aemilianus  the  Notary,  who  took  shorthand 
notes  of    his   sermons ;    Paterius  the  Notary,   who  edited  excerpts 
from  his  writings  ;  John  the  Defensor,  afterwards  sent  into  Spain  ; 
Maximianus,   Abbot    of   St.   Andrew's    and    afterwards   Bishop  of 
Syracuse  ;  Marinianus,  a  monk  of  the  same  monastery,  afterwards 
Archbishop  of  Ravenna  ;  St.  Augustine,  prior  of  that  abbey,  after- 
wards the  evangelist  of  Britain,  and  his  companion  Mellitus  ;  Probus, 
who  was  sent  to  build  a  xenodochium,  or  shelter,  for  strangers  at 
Jerusalem  and  Claudius,  afterwards  Abbot  of  Classis,  who  had  taken 
notes  of  Gregory's  lectures  on  the  Old  Testament  (Dudden,  5.  245). 


40  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

ancient  patriarchates  of  Rome,  Jerusalem,  Antioch, 
and  Alexandria,  and  the  more  modern  and  as  yet  not 
rigidly  recognised  patriarchate  of  Constantinople. 
While  these  five  patriarchs  all  claimed  co-ordinate 
jurisdiction  and  had  their  own  provinces,  the  Roman 
pontiff  had  gradually  acquired  a  precedence  and 
seniority,  which  was  generally  conceded  even  at 
Constantinople.  This  was  due  to  many  causes,  the 
most  potent  being  the  fact  that  he  was  Bishop  of  the 
Metropolitan  See,  that  of  the  most  famous  city  in  the 
Empire — Rome.  This  was  probably  enhanced  by 
the  fact  that  the  Courts  of  Ultimate  Appeal,  where 
the  most  learned  lawyers  and  jurists  were  to  be  found, 
had  been  there.  When  the  emperors  moved  their  resi- 
dence first  to  Ravenna  and  then  to  Constantinople, 
the  Pope  became  the  greatest  and  most  influential 
figure  in  Rome  itself,  in  addition  to  which  the  great 
wealth  of  the  popes  made  them  more  potent  person- 
ages than  other  patriarchs.  All  this  was  further 
enhanced  by  the  legends  which  had  grown  up  about 
Rome  having  been  the  see  of  the  Senior  Apostle, 
St.  Peter,  to  whom  the  keys  were  alleged  to  have 
been  specially  entrusted.  Gregory  was  hard  pressed 
by  the  claims,  to  which  I  shall  revert  presently,  set 
up  by  the  Patriarch  of  Constantinople  to  the  style 
of  episcopus  universalis,  or  sole  bishop,  which  he 
adopted.  While  rejecting  that  proud  style  for  him- 
self, he  did  not  fail  to  claim  for  the  See  of  Rome 
the  primacy  over  all  churches  (sede  apostolica,  quae 
omnium  ecclesiarum  caput  esf)?  while  he  declared  in 

1  E.  and  //.  xiii.  50. 


SAINT  GREGORY'S  AUTHORITY  AS  POPE     41 

another  letter1  that  he  had  been  called  to  govern 
"  the  Church  "  (indignus  ego  ad  ecclesiae  regimen 
adductus).  He  quotes  approvingly  the  action  of  his 
predecessor,  Pelagius,  in  annulling  by  a  fully  valid 
censure  certain  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Council  of 
Constantinople  {Pelagius  .  .  .  omnia  gesta  ejusdem 
Synodi  praeter  ilia,  etc.,  .  .  .  valida  omnino  distric- 
tione  cassavit}?  thus  claiming  the  power  to  pass  over 
even  the  finding  of  a  Council.  He  further  adds  that 
without  the  authority  and  consent  of  the  Holy  See 
nothing  that  might  be  passed  (at  such  a  synod)  would 
be  valid  (sine  apostolicae  sedis  auctoritate  atque  con- 
sensu  nullas,  quaeque  acta  fuerint,  vires  habeant}? 
Especially  did  he  claim  to  supervise  and  overrule 
the  decisions  of  his  brother-patriarch  at  Constanti- 
nople when  he  deemed  them  uncanonical.4  Occa- 
sionally this  last  claim  was  set  out  in  undisguised 
terms.  Thus  he  says  in  a  letter  to  John,  Bishop  of 
Syracuse,  "As  to  what  they  affirm  of  the  Church  of 
Constantinople,  who  can  doubt  that  it  is  subject  to 
the  Apostolic  See  ?  "  (Nam  de  Constantinopolitana 
ecclesia  quod  dicunt,  quis  earn  dubitet  sedi  apostolicae 
esse  subjectam?Y  In  another  letter  to  the  same 
bishop6  he  claims  authority  over  all  bishops  when 
they  have  committed  a  fault  (nam  quod  se  sedi  apos- 
tolicae dicit  subici,  si  qua  culpa  in  episcopis  invenitur, 
nescio  quis  ei  episcopus  subjectus  non  sit). 

On  the  other  hand,  he  carefully  guarded  himself 
against  being  thought  to  have  encroached  upon  the 

*  E.andH.v.  w.  2  Ib.  ix.  156.  3  Ib. 

4  Ib.  iii.  52.  5  Ib.  ix.  26.  6  Ib.  ix.  27. 


42  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

legitimate  rights  of  other  patriarchs.  Thus  in  a 
letter  he  wrote  to  Eulogius  the  Patriarch  of  Alex- 
andria, which  was  written  in  reply  to  one  he  had  re- 
ceived from  the  latter,  and  which  was  addressed  to 
himself  as  Universal  Pope,  he  styles  this  an  arrogant 
title  (superba  appellatio],  and  he  begs  him  to  do  this 
no  more,  for  by  giving  to  another  what  is  excessive 
he  was  subtracting  from  himself;  ".  .  .  for  if  your 
Holiness  calls  me  Universal  Pope,  you  deny  that  you 
are  yourself  what  you  call  me,  namely,  Universal " 
(si  enim  universalem  me  papam  vestra  sanctitas  dicit, 
negat  se  hoc  esse,  quod  me  fatetur  universuni}.  He 
further  protests  against  his  phrase  "as  you  have 
commanded"  (sicut jussistis],  and  says,  "I  know  who 
I  am  and  who  you  are,  for  in  position  you  are  my 
brother,  in  character  my  father."1 

Again,  he  writes  to  the  Bishop  of  Syracuse  to  tell 
him  that  the  Byzantine  Primate  (Crementius)  had 
been  charged  with  some  fault  by  his  fellow-bishops, 
and  the  Emperor  wished  him  to  be  judged  by 
Gregory  according  to  canonical  ordinance,  but  the 
Pope  says  he  had  been  unwilling  to  decide  the  case. 
Crementius,  it  seems,  had  said  that  he  was  subject 
to  the  Apostolic  See,  whereupon  Gregory  remarked, 
"If  any  fault  be  found  in  bishops,  I  know  not  what 
bishop  is  not  subject  to  it.  But  when  there  is  no  fault, 
all,  according  to  the  principle  of  humility,  are  equal " 
(omnes  secundum  rationem  humilitatis  aequales 
sun£).z  The  question  in  this  particular  case  was  not 
tried  out,  however,  and  three  years  later,  in  another 

1  E.  and  H.  viii.  29.  2  Ib.  ix.  27  ;  Barmby,  ix.  59. 


SAINT  GREGORY'S  AUTHORITY  AS  POPE     43 

letter,  Gregory,  who  probably  felt  the  position  was 
a  strained  one,  stated  that  he  had  not  been  able  to 
investigate  it,  his  hands  having  been  so  full,  and  he 
counselled  the  bishops  of  the  province  themselves 
to  investigate  the  charges  against  their  Primate.1 

In  only  one  of  the  letters  in  his  long-extended 
correspondence  do  we  find  a  phrase  in  which  he 
seems  to  hint  at  a  claim,  in  certain  cases,  of  a  patri- 
arch to  qualify  the  absolute  jurisdiction  of  another 
patriarch.  It  is  contained  in  a  letter  to  Natalis, 
Bishop  of  Salona,  in  Dalmatia,  who  had  wrongly 
removed  the  Archdeacon  Honoratus,  in  spite  of  the 
protests  of  himself  and  his  predecessor,  adding  that 
if  any  one  of  the  four  patriarchs  had  committed  such 
great  contumacy  it  would  not  have  been  tolerated 
(Quod  si  quislibet  ex  qitattuor  patriarchis  fecisset, 
sine  gravissimo  scandalo  tanta  contumacia  transire 
mdlo  modo  potuissef}? 

The  initial  sentence  of  this  letter  is  a  good  ex- 
ample of  Gregory's  humour.  It  seems  that  Natalis 
had  been  rebuked  by  him  for  much  feasting,  and  had 
replied  by  quoting  Abraham's  entertainment  of  the 
three  angels  as  an  example  of  such  hospitality  ;  upon 
which  Gregory  replied,  "  We  will  not  blame  your 
fraternity  if  we  come  to  know  that  you  have 
entertained  angels." 

I  have  enlarged  somewhat  on  the  extent  of  the 
Pope's  patriarchal  jurisdiction  at  this  time  in  order  to 
emphasise  the  fact  that  the  primacy  of  Rome  as  the 

1  E.  and  H.  xii.  12  ;  Barm  by,  xii.  32. 

2  E.  and  H.  ii.  50 ;  Barmby,  ii.  52. 


44  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

first  See  of  Christendom  was  then  almost  universally 
acknowledged.  This  involved  little,  however,  of  that 
centralised  authority  which  it  acquired  in  later  cen- 
turies. And  especially  was  the  theory  resented  by 
Gregory  that  the  Pope  was  in  any  sense  the  universal 
or  sole  bishop,  Episcopus  Unicus,  as  he  termed  it,  in 
whom  the  whole  episcopate  was  in  later  times  deemed 
to  be  merged,  each  bishop  being  thus  reduced  in  effect 
to  a  papal  vicar.  Gregory,  as  Dr.  Barmby  says,  seems 
to  have  regarded  the  See  of  St.  Peter  as  everywhere 
supreme,  only  in  the  sense  of  its  being  its  prerogative 
to  conserve  inviolate  the  Catholic  faith  and  observ- 
ance of  the  canons,  wherever  heresy  or  uncanonical 
proceedings  called  for  protest  and  correction.1 

The  nominal  patriarchate  of  the  Roman  pontiff 
was  largely  conterminous  with  the  Latin-speaking 
races,  and  included  North  Africa,  Italy,  with  its 
islands,  Istria,  Gaul,  Spain,  and  Britain.  In  reality 
this  description  must  be  greatly  qualified.  A  great 
part  of  Italy  was  in  the  hands  of  the  Lombards,  who 
were  Arians.  The  larger  part  of  Spain,  namely,  that 
subject  to  the  Visigoths,  had  only  quite  recently  dis- 
carded its  Arianism ;  but  it  would  appear  that  this  had 
not  been  accompanied  with  any  submission  to  the 
Holy  See.  Lastly,  Great  Britain  was  largely  pagan, 
and  where  not  pagan  had  ceased  to  have  intercourse 
with  Rome. 

Apart  from  this,  even  in  those  parts  where  the 
orthodoxy  of  the  Church  was  assured,  the  recognition 
of  the  patriarchal  authority  of  Rome  was  not  too 
1  Op.  cit.  Proleg.  xii. 


ST.  GREGORY'S  AUTHORITY  AS  PATRIARCH     45 

cordial,  and  the  question  of  his  authority  had  to  be 
treated  with  considerable  diplomacy  by  the  Pope. 
This  was  notably  the  case  in  Africa,  where  the  tradi- 
tions of  St.  Augustine  had  survived.   The  Donatists 
also  still  maintained  themselves  there,  especially  in 
Numidia,  under  their  own  bishops.     They  were  in- 
offensive and  harmless  in  their  behaviour,  and  were 
looked  upon  with  a  friendly  eye  by  the  authorities, 
and  notably  by  the  African  Exarch.     The  Catholic 
bishops  were  also  on  good  terms  with  them.     As 
Mr. Dudden  amusingly  says  :  "Peace,  toleration,  and 
a  lump  sum  now  and  then  appear  to  have  been  their 
programme.     The  dangers  of  the  Schism  they  en- 
tirely ignored."1    Gregory's  rhetoric  had  little  effect 
on  them.    It  must  be  remembered  that  the  Donatists 
were  not  heretics  in  doctrine.  They  were  really  Schis- 
matics.   They  had  merely  refused  to  obey  Caecilian, 
Bishop  of  Carthage,  because  he  had  been  ordained 
by  a  bishop  who  had  lapsed  during  the  Diocletian 
persecution  and  was  deemed  a  traitor  and  incapable  of 
transmitting  the  succession.    They  therefore  set  up  a 
rival  bishop  to  Caecilian,  and  started  a  new  succes- 
sion of  their  own.     Gregory  insisted,  however,  that 
no  one  who  had  been  a  Donatist  should  hold  the  office 
of  a  Primate,  and  he  appointed  a  vigorous  Numidian 
bishop  named  Columbus,  who  was  devoted  to  himself, 
as  his  vicar-general,  and  more  than  one  local  synod 
was  called  to  try  and  repress  this  as  well  as  other 
scandals.  The  Emperor,  too,  offered  his  help  and  gave 
his  countenance  to  the  Pope's  reform.     The  remedy 
1  Op.  dt.  i.  417 


46  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

was  only  very  partial,  and  things  went  on  pretty  much 
as  before  until  the  Arabs  half  a  century  later  swept 
orthodox  and  schismatic  away  together.  Meanwhile 
the  orthodox  African  bishops  and  clergy  continued 
to  act  very  independently,  and  the  Pope's  patriarchal 
jurisdiction  was  largely  nominal.  He  had  a  good 
friend,  however,  in  the  African  Exarch. 

This  was  the  case  also  in  the  diocese  of  Milan, 
the  great  See  of  St.  Ambrose,  whose  archbishop  on 
the  Lombard  invasion  had  been  obliged  to  seek 
shelter  at  Genoa  in  the  Ligurian  district,  which  still 
obeyed  the  Emperor.  There  were  a  good  many  ad- 
herents of  the  schism  of  "  The  Three  Chapters  "  there, 
and  a  good  deal  of  difficulty  in  the  Pope  maintaining 
his  authority  as  the  arbiter  in  disputes  between  rival 
bishops  and  among  an  independent  clergy.  He  did 
so  largely,  there  as  elsewhere,  by  contenting  himself 
with  retaining  the  right  of  approving  the  appoint- 
ment of  Metropolitans,  and  then  leaving  them  and 
their  synods  (to  whom  the  internal  discipline  was  al- 
most entirely  entrusted)  with  very  little  interference. 
The  Pope's  confirmation  of  such  an  appointment  was 
generally  marked  by  his  presenting  the  Metropolitan 
with  a  pallium,  or  omophorion.  In  the  East  this  vest- 
ment was  used  as  of  right  by  all  bishops ;  in  the  West  it 
was  similarly  worn  as  of  right  by  three  only,  the  Bishop 
of  Rome,  the  Bishop  of  Ostia  (as  the  usual  consecrator 
of  the  Pope),  and  probably  the  Bishop  of  Ravenna. 
Others  wore  it  by  the  special  gift  and  consent  of  the 
Pope.  Gregory,  we  know,  gave  it  to  the  bishops 
of  Syracuse,  Messina,  Palermo,  Milan,  Salona, 


ST.  GREGORY'S  METROPOLITAN  AUTHORITY   47 

Nicopolis,  Corinth,  Prima  Justiniana,  Aries,  Autun, 
Seville,  and  Canterbury.  At  Aries,  Canterbury,  and 
Syracuse  it  carried  the  jurisdiction  of  a  papal  vicar. 
In  other  cases  it  was  a  mark  of  honour  and  dignity. 
In  some  instances,  when  Gregory  wished  to  confer 
a  special  favour,  the  pallium  was  conferred  on 
bishops  who  were  not  metropolitans,  as  in  the  cases 
of  the  bishops  of  Syracuse,  Messina,  and  Palermo 
(all  in  Sicily,  where  the  Pope  had  such  large  posses- 
sions), and  of  Autun  in  Gaul.  In  the  case  of  Autun, 
as  we  shall  see,  the  bishop's  metropolitan  never 
secured  the  pallium.  "  The  vestment  seems  to  have 
been  originally  an  Imperial  gift,  and  in  the  sixth 
century  the  popes  usually  asked  the  Emperor's  per- 
mission before  bestowing  it  on  bishops  who  were 
not  subjects  of  the  Emperor.  It  was  forbidden  to 
make  any  payment  for  it.  As  late  as  the  seventh 
century  the  Emperor  even  claimed  to  confer  it 
directly  without  the  mediation  of  the  Pope.  It  was 
only  conferred  on  a  bishop  on  personal  application, 
and  was  worn  during  the  first  part  of  the  Mass  up 
to  the  reading  of  the  Gospel,  except  in  the  cases  of 
the  bishops  of  Rome  and  Ravenna,  who  kept  it  on 
during  the  whole  service,  and  only  laid  it  aside  when 
they  returned  to  the  sacristy  after  the  celebration." l 
In  addition  to  being  Pope  and  Patriarch  of  the 
West,  the  Roman  bishop  was  also  a  metropolitan  or 
archbishop.  He  held  metropolitan  authority  over  his 
seven  suffragans:  the  bishops  of  Ostia,  Portus,  Silva 
Candida,  Sabina,  Praeneste,  Tusculum,  and  Albanum. 
1  Dudden,  i.  436. 


48 

For  a  long  time,  as  Rufinus  (writing  at  the  end  of 
the  fourth  century)  says,  the  popes  had  also  exer- 
cised a  patriarchal  and  metropolitan  jurisdiction 
over  the  suburban  provinces  under  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  so-called  Vicarius  urbis.  These  included  the 
provinces  of  Picenum  Suburbicarium,  Campania, 
Tuscia,  Umbria,  Apulia,  Calabria,  Bruttii,  Lucania, 
Valeria,  Sicily,  Corsica,  and  the  lesser  islands.1  Sar- 
dinia, while  it  acknowledged  the  Pope's  authority  as 
Patriarch,  had  a  metropolitan  of  its  own,  with  a 
seat  at  Cagliari.  Gregory  calls  him  Metropolitanus.2 
Beyond  these  limits  his  jurisdiction  as  "  Metro- 
politan," while  acknowledged,  was  not  well  defined. 
The  Aemilian  and  Flaminian  districts,  with  Picenum 
Annonicarium,  obeyed  the  Metropolitan  of  Ravenna ; 
Liguria,  the  Cottian  Alps,  and  Upper  and  Lower 
Rhaetia,  the  Archbishop  of  Milan ;  Venetia  and 
Istria,  the  Archbishop  of  Aquileia.3 

At  this  time  a  large  part  of  the  Pope's  metro- 
politan lands  were  dominated  by  the  Lombards,  who 
were  Arians,  and  they  appointed  their  own  bishops 
and  priests,  who  did  not  acknowledge  him. 

As  Metropolitan,  Gregory  exercised  a  closesuper- 
vision  over  the  conduct  and  character  of  his  suffragan 
bishops,  and  was  especially  vigilant  in  regard  to  their 
appointment.  When  a  vacancy  occurred  in  his  metro- 
politan district,  which  was  the  model  for  others,  he  was 
at  once  informed,  and  thereupon  he  sent  a  Visitor, 
generally  a  neighbouring  bishop,  to  administerthe  see 
until  the  appointment  of  a  successor.  The  vacancy 

1  Dudden,  i.  357.  *  E.  and  H.  ix.  202.  8  Dudden,  ib. 


ST.  GREGORY'S  METROPOLITAN  AUTHORITY  49 

was  not  to  last  more  than  three  months.  The  clergy, 
nobles,  and  people  were  then  summoned  for  the 
election  of  a  new  bishop.  They  were  assisted  by  the 
Visitor,  and  sometimes  by  the  chief  magistrate  or  mili- 
tary governor  of  the  district.  There  was  generally  a 
scrutiny  of  votes,  but  sometimes  the  election  was  by 
acclamation  and  sometimes  by  delegates  appointed 
for  the  purpose  by  the  electors.  The  election  had 
to  be  confirmed  by  the  Metropolitan,  who  also  had 
the  power  of  veto  ;  but  the  latter  was  not  arbitrarily 
to  set  aside  the  electors  in  order  to  thrust  his  own 
nominee  upon  the  see.  If  the  electors  were  culpably 
neglectful  in  their  duty,  or  no  candidates  were 
forthcoming,  the  Pope  himself  selected  the  candidate 
he  deemed  best  suited.  Gregory  forbade  the  selec- 
tion of  strangers  unless  there  was  no  eligible  priest 
in  the  diocese,  nor  would  he  allow  a  layman  to 
be  elected,  although  monks  and  those  in  minor 
orders  might  be  so,  and  he  insisted  that  a  bishop 
should  have  at  least  the  necessary  culture  to  know 
the  Psalter.1  In  all  such  appointments  in  his  own 
province  Gregory  reserved  the  power  of  veto  to 
himself,  nor  did  he  recognise  a  bishop  whose 
appointment  he  had  not  confirmed  ;  and  in  the  case 
of  bishops  who  misbehaved,  he  claimed  the  right  to 
have  them  tried  at  Rome  and  to  deal  with  them 
there,  nor  would  he  admit  that  they  had  any  right 
of  appeal  to  the  Emperor.  On  the  other  hand,  he 
carefully  guarded  the  episcopal  authority  against  en- 
croachment even  from  his  own  officials.  Thus  in  a 

1  Dudden,  i.  375. 


50  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

letter  written  to  one  of  them  named  Romanus,  who 
held  the  office  of  defensor,  or  guardian,  of  Sicily,  and 
who  in  certain  suits  in  which  clerics  were  engaged 
had  displaced  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Bishop,  he  says  : 
"If  each  single  bishop  has  not  his  own  jurisdiction 
reserved  to  him,  ecclesiastical  order  is  confounded 
through  you  by  whom  it  ought  to  be  guarded."1 

A  few  instances  of  specific  cases  in  which  Gregory 
gave  advice  to,  or  dealt  judicially  with,  bishops,  as 
their  Metropolitan,  may  be  given  with  profit.  In  a 
letter  to  John,  Bishop  of  Squillacium,  he  bids  him 
never  make  unlawful  ordinations  or  allow  any  biga- 
mist, or  one  who  had  taken  a  wife  who  was  not  a 
virgin,  or  one  ignorant  of  letters,  or  maimed  in 
any  part  of  his  body,  or  a  penitent,  or  liable  to  any 
condition  of  service,  to  attain  to  sacred  orders. 
Africans  generally,  and  unknown  strangers  applying 
for  orders,  he  was  on  no  account  to  accept,  since 
some  Africans  were  Manichseans,  while  others  had 
been  rebaptized.  Many  strangers,  again,  though 
being  in  minor  orders,  had  pretended  to  a  higher 
dignity,  and  he  must  therefore  be  vigilant.2 

In  another  letter  written  to  John  of  Ravenna  he 

1  E.  and  H.  xi.  24  ;  Barmby,  xi.  37. 

3  E.  and  H.  ii.  37  ;  Barmby,  ii.  37.  Bishop  John  here  named  had 
been  driven  away  from  the  See  of  Lissus  (?  Alessio),  and  Gregory  had 
given  him  temporary  charge  of  Squillacium  (which  was  then  vacant) 
until  he  could  return  to  his  own  see.  In  this  letter  he  uses  a 
curious  phrase  (v.  12),  cardinalis  sacerdos.  The  words  cardinalis  sacer- 
~dos  and  cardinalis  pontifex  are  also  used  in  E.  and  H.  i.  77,  cardinalis 
episcopus  in  ii.  12,  37,  and  iii.  13,  while  in  iii.  24  we  read  cardinalem 
et  proprium  sacerdotem,  E.  and  H.  quote  several  instances  where 
cardinalis  is  used  in  the  sense  of  proprius^  i.e,  regular,  and  meaning 
regularly  appointed.  Cardinatus  is  also  used  as  a  synonym  for 
ordinatus  or  institutes  ;  see  E.  and  H.  vol.  i.  p.  97,  note  3. 


ST.  GREGORY'S  METROPOLITAN  AUTHORITY   5  i 

entirely  disapproves  of  reordinations :  "  for  as  one 
who  has  been  once  baptized  ought  not  to  be  baptized 
again,  so  one  who  has  been  consecrated  should  not 
be  consecrated  again  to  the  same  order."1 

In  a  letter  to  Bishop  Columbus,  Gregory  de- 
nounces the  custom  which  had  arisen  of  allowing 
the  Donatists  to  have  their  own  bishops.  The  Dona- 
tists  were,  he  says,  largely  increasing,  and  were  in  the 
habit  of  rebaptizing.2 

In  a  letter  written  to  John,  Bishop  of  Prima 
Justiniana,  he  condemns  him  to  be  deprived  of  the 
sacred  communion  for  thirty  days,  for  having,  contrary 
to  the  custom  of  the  priesthood  and  communal  dis- 
cipline, given  up  an  alleged  deposed  subdeacon  to 
the  praetor  of  the  province,  who  had  tormented  him 
with  stripes  to  make  him  confess.3 

While  Gregory  kept  a  vigilant  eye  upon  the 
bishops  in  the  district  over  which  he  was  Metro- 
politan, he  left  the  discipline  and  government  of  the 
clergy  largely  in  their  hands,  interfering  only  in  bad 
cases,  and  he  encouraged  the  meeting  of  local 
synods  twice  a  year — before  Lent  and  in  the  autumn 
— in  each  diocese  to  safeguard  true  doctrine,  to  make 
up  quarrels,  etc.  He  himself  held  periodical  synods 
of  his  own  bishops,  who  met  on  St.  Peter's  Day 
every  five  years.  Strict  rules  were  drawn  up  in 
regard  to  candidates  for  holy  orders.  "  No  one  was 
to  be  ordained  who  had  been  guilty  of  immorality, 
bigamy,  marriage  with  a  widow  or  a  divorced 

1  E,  and  H.  ii.  45  ;  Barmby,  ii.  46. 
*  E.  and  H.  ii.  46  ;  Barmby,  ii.  48. 
8  E.  and  H.  iii.  2  ;  Barmby,  iii.  6. 


52  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

woman,  who  had  for  several  years  led  an  evil  life, 
or  was  liable  to  civil  or  military  service,  who  had 
committed  self-mutilation,  was  ignorant  of  letters, 
had  done  public  penance,  or  taken  usury,  or  been 
guilty  of  attempted  simony  or  the  invocation  of 
secular  influence," l  or  was  the  member  of  a  curia? 
It  had  been  deemed  unlawful  since  the  time  of  Pope 
Siricius  for  bishops,   priests,   and   deacons   of  the 
Roman  Church  to  marry  after  ordination,  but  married 
men  had  not  in  early  times  been  excluded  from  the 
priesthood.    The  same  pope  had  forbidden  cohabita- 
tion in  these  cases.     The  rule  was,  however,  very 
widely   evaded,    except   in    Italy,    where    married 
bishops,  priests,  and  deacons  mostly  obeyed  the  in- 
junction.   With  the  increasing  austerity  of  the  Church 
the  rule  was  extended  so  as  also  to  include  subdeacons; 
and  to  prevent  scandal,  by  a  special  order  issued  in 
February  599,  no  bishop  was   permitted  to   have 
women  living   in  his  house  except  such  as  were 
allowed  by  the  canons,  namely,  a  mother,   sister, 
aunt,  or  others  of  whom  there  could  be  no  suspicion.3 
The  general  superintendence  of  the  finances  of  each 
diocese  was  the  duty  of  the  archdeacon,  who  was 
personally  responsible  for  all  losses  to  the  churches' 
treasury.      He   was    assisted  by  an   Oeconomus,  or 
church  steward,  who  had  to  see  to  the  building  and 
repair  of  churches,  the  cultivation  of  church  lands,  the 
payment  of  the  stipends  of  the  clergy,  the  distribu- 
tion of  alms,  the  conduct  of  lawsuits,  and  the  care 
of  the  revenues  during  a  vacancy. 

1  Dudden,  i.  367,  375.        2  Vide  infra.        8  Dudden,  i.  388. 


SAINT  GREGORY— METROPOLITAN  &  BISHOP    5  3 

While  Gregory  insisted  on  the  canonical  rule 
that  the  revenues  of  the  Church  should  be  divided 
into  four  portions,  one  of  which  was  for  the  bishop 
and  a  second  one  for  the  clergy,  he  generally 
allowed  the  bishops  discretion  as  to  how  they 
apportioned  the  latter.  It  is  curious  to  read  how  in 
certain  cases  the  clergy,  by  a  kind  of  Trades  Union, 
exercised  pressure  on  their  bishop  and  exacted  from 
him  an  agreement  or  charter  of  rights,  afterwards 
confirmed  by  the  Pope,  for  securing  fair  treatment. 
Thus  in  one  case  at  Palermo  the  bishop  engaged 
to  give  them  their  full  fourth  and  to  distribute  it 
among  them,  not  by  favour,  but  according  to  the 
merits,  the  official  standing,  or  the  good  work  of 
each ;  their  share  was  not  only  to  be  a  fourth  of 
the  regular  revenues  of  the  Church,  but  also  of  the 
offerings  of  the  faithful,  whether  in  money  or  in  kind. 
The  bishop  further  undertook  to  have  his  accounts 
published  annually,  to  allow  clerics  to  buy  wine  from 
the  church  estate  at  market  price,  to  reclaim  all 
possessions  of  the  church  which  were  wrongfully 
retained  by  strangers,  and  to  be  slow  in  believing 
evil  of  his  clergy  and  in  punishing  them.1 

Bishops  could  not  alienate  the  revenues  of  their 
churches  without  the  consent  of  the  Pope  and  their 
own  clergy,  and  such  consent  was  seldom  granted. 

1  In  a  letter  from  Gregory  to  Paschasius,  Bishop  of  Naples, 
Gregory  suggests  what  he  thought  an  equitable  division  of  the  Church 
fund  among  the  clergy  and  poor  there,  namely,  100  solidi  to  the 
clerics  of  the  Church  ;  half  a  solidus  each  to  1 26  praejacentes,  i.e,  the 
senior  clergy  ;  50  solidi  to  the  foreign  clergy ;  1 50  solidi  to  poor 
men  ashamed  to  beg  ;  and  30  solidi  to  public  beggars  (E.  and  H.  xi. 
22  ;  xiii.  46). 


54  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

In  one  instance  Fortunatus,  the  Bishop  of  Fano, 
was  allowed  to  sell  his  church  plate  to  pay  a  church 
debt ;  but  the  payment  had  to  be  made  before  the 
Roman  agent,  John  the  Defensor.1  The  property  of 
intestate  bishops,  or  property  acquired  after  any  one 
became  a  bishop,  went  to  the  Church.  A  bishop  could 
only  bequeath  what  he  acquired  before  he  became 
bishop,  or  what  he  had  inherited  from  relatives. 

For  the  guidance  and  instruction  of  bishops, 
Gregory  drew  up  a  famous  manual,  which  presents 
his  ideal  of  a  pastor's  life,  known  as  his  "  Pastoral 
Care."  The  Emperor  Maurice  caused  it  to  be  trans- 
lated into  Greek  in  order  that  it  might  be  circulated 
throughout  the  East.  Augustine  took  it  with  him 
to  England.  King  Alfred,  with  the  help  of  Arch- 
bishop Plegmund  and  some  Mass  priests,  para- 
phrased it  in  the  West  Saxon  dialect.  In  796 
Alcuin  wrote  to  the  Archbishop  of  York  about  it, 
bidding  him  take  the  book  with  him  wheresoever 
he  went,  and  to  read  and  reread  it  as  a  mirror  of 
the  pontifical  life.  In  a  series  of  councils  held  by 
Charlemagne  in  813  at  Mayence,  Rheims,  Tours, 
and  Chalons-sur-Sa6ne,  its  study  was  enjoined  on 
the  bishops,  and  Hincmar,  Archbishop  of  Rheims, 
tells  us  some  years  later  how  the  book,  together  with 
the  canons  of  the  Church,  were  put  in  the  hands  of 
all  bishops  at  their  consecration.2 

The  general  scheme  of  the  work  is  homiletic. 
Mr.  Dudden  condenses  the  ideals  which  the  Pope 
set  before  men  in  his  manual  as  the  highest  standards 

1  E.  and  H.  vii.  13.  *  Dudden,  i.  239. 


ST.  GREGORY'S  SYNODICAL  REGULATIONS    55 

of  conduct.  In  it  "he  regards  a  bishop  pre- 
eminently as  a  physician  of  souls.  His  principal 
functions  are  preaching  and  the  exercise  of  discipline. 
In  order  to  carry  out  his  duties  effectively  he  is 
bound  to  study  with  anxious  care  every  form  of 
spiritual  disease ;  and  he  must  have  the  skill  to 
devise  all  remedies  to  suit  all  cases.  He  must  act 
towards  his  people  as  a  kindly  father,  but,  if  need  be, 
as  a  severe  governor.  For  the  souls  of  the  people 
were  committed  to  his  charge  ;  he  was  their  ruler ; 
and  for  their  salvation  he  would  be  held  responsible. 
The  episcopal  dignity,  in  short,  is  an  office  of  govern- 
ment to  be  administered  by  one  who  is  skilled  in 
the  treatment  of  souls,  for  the  benefit  of  the  governed. 
And  the  principal  instrument  by  which  the  work  is 
carried  on  is  that  of  preaching."  * 

Although  Gregory  made  so  many  regulations 
and  introduced  so  many  reforms,  he  was  not  prodigal 
in  his  own  synodical  enactments.  On  the  5th  July 
595  he  summoned  a  synod  attended  by  twenty-three 
bishops  from  his  metropolitan  province,  and  thirty- 
five  priests  of  titular  churches,  who  all  signed  its 
acts  ;  the  remaining  priests  and  the  deacons  were 
present,  but  took  no  part  in  it.  The  acts  of  this 
synod  comprise  six  chapters. 

No.  i  forbids  deacons,  whose  proper  duty  it 
was  to  preach  and  minister  to  the  poor,  to  act  as 
chanters  at  Mass,  with  the  exception  of  chanting  the 
Gospel — solumque  evangelicae  lectionis  officium  inter 
missarum  sollemnia  exsolvant ;  the  Psalms  and  other 

1  Dudden,  i.  238. 


$6  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

lections  were  to  be  chanted  by  subdeacons  or  those 
in  minor  orders.1 

No.  2.  Only  monks  or  men  in  orders  were  in 
future  to  attend  upon  the  Pope  in  his  bedchamber, 
and  not  laymen. 

No.  3.  The  Rectors  of  "  the  Patrimony "  were 
not  to  make  or  press  claims  to  properties  without 
ample  proof  of  a  good  title.  Nor  to  attach  tituli 
or  notices  of  ownership  to  properties  supposed  to 
belong  to  the  Church 2  but  with  doubtful  titles. 

No.  4.  Hitherto  the  bodies  of  popes  when  taken 
to  their  tombs  had  been  dressed  in  dalmatics  (a 
robe  specially  used  at  Rome,  and  only  by  special, 
privileged  persons).  These  the  people  had  after- 
wards torn  into  shreds,  keeping  them  as  sacred  relics. 
Gregory  deprecated  the  custom,  affirming  that  such 
reverence  should  be  reserved  for  the  coverings  of 
apostles  and  martyrs,  and  not  be  extended  to  those 
of  sinful  men.  He  therefore  ordered  that  in  future 
the  bier  at  a  pope's  funeral  was  to  have  no  covering 

1  Duchesne  says  that  until  St.  Gregory's  time  it  had  been  customary 
for  the  gradual  and  its  additions  to  be  sung  like  the  Gospel  by 
deacons  only,  and  he  quotes  several  epitaphs  of  deacons  and  arch- 
deacons in  which  their  fine  voices  were  praised.     Thus  the  posses- 
sion of  a  fine  voice  and  a  thorough  knowledge  of  music  had  been 
a  necessary  qualification  for  a  deacon.     This  had  interfered  with  their 
other  duties.     Hence  the  prohibition  above  enacted.     The  gradual 
was  so  called  because  it  was  sung  at  the  gradus  or  ambo,  where  the 
lections  were  also  read.     It  was  always  sung  by  a  single  cantor,  the 
choir  only  taking  up  the  final  musical  phrase.     The  gradual  and 
similar  chants  were  sung  between  the  lections  in  the  Mass  (Duchesne, 
168-9). 

2  These  tituli,  according  to  Ewald,  were  wooden  or  stone  tablets 
placed  at  the  boundaries  of  properties,  and  contained  the  names  of 
the  owners  (see  E.  and  H.,  vol.  i.  p.  54,  note  2). 


ST.  GREGORY'S  DISCIPLINARY  REGULATIONS   57 

(quo  Romani pontificis  corpus  ad  sepeliendum  duciter, 
nullo  tegmine  veletur). 

No.  5.  This  decree  forbade  the  lesser  officials  to 
exact  fees  at  ordinations,  at  the  gift  of  the  pallium, 
or  for  preparing  the  necessary  documents.  While 
such  fees  could  not  be  demanded,  presents  if  freely 
offered  might  be  accepted.1 

Islo.  6.  Slaves  of  the  church  who  wished  to  be- 
come monks  were  to  pass  through  a  period  of  proba- 
tion, during  which  they  were  to  retain  the  dress  of 
laymen.  If  their  conduct  during  such  period  was 
approved,  they  were  to  be  emancipated.2 

Gregory  was  stringent  in  exacting  regularity  of 
order  and  ritual,  especially  when  any  change  meant 
increased  authority  or  prestige.  Thus  he  says  that 
no  Metropolitan  had  been  wont  to  wear  the  pallium 
except  at  Mass,  and  he  rebukes  John,  the  Bishop  of 
Ravenna,  for  using  it  while  receiving  the  laity 
before  celebration,  and  in  solemn  processions 
through  the  streets.  He  further  charges  the  clergy 
at  Ravenna  with  having  used  mappulae,  or  white 
linen  covers,  over  the  saddles  of  their  horses  when 
they  went  in  processions,  which  was  a  further 
usurped  dignity.  Their  use  was  strictly  limited  to 
the  clergy  of  Rome,  where  even  the  lesser  clerks 
before  entering  sacred  Orders  enjoyed  the  right.3 

1  It  may  be  noted  that  by  the  Imperial  law  a  new  pope  might  give 
the  bishops  and  clergy  a  present  of  not  more  than  20  Ib.  of  gold, 
a  bishop  100  solidi  for  the  costs  of  enthronement,  and  300  solidi  to 
the  notaries  and  officers  of  the  consecrator,  while  clerks  might  give 
the  bishops  who  consecrated  them  not  more  than  a  year's  value 
of  the  benefice  (see  Dudden,  i.  263,  note). 

*  E.  and  H.  v.  570.  3  Duchesne,  396-7. 


58  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

It  would  seem  that  the  bishop  had  presumed  to  do 
this  because  Ravenna  was  the  seat  of  the  Exarch 
and  was  once  an  Imperial  residence.1  In  a  letter 
written  to  John,  Bishop  of  Syracuse,  he  tells  him 
that  he  had  heard  that  the  deacons  of  the  church 
at  Catania  had  usurped  the  special  privilege  pos- 
sessed by  those  of  Messina  alone  in  all  Sicily,  of 
wearing  a  certain  kind  of  slippers,  called  campagi, 
covering  only  the  heel  and  toes,  which  had  been 
otherwise  reserved  for  the  higher  clergy  of  Rome 
and  Ravenna.  The  Pope  strictly  forbade  this 
irregularity.2 

Among  the  subjects  discussed  by  St.  Gregory  in 
his  letters,  there  is  a  ritual  question  which  is  of  wider 
interest  than  the  immediate  issue.  Preliminary  to 
baptizing  a  person,  the  priest  who  performed  the 
ceremony  anointed  with  simple  oil  the  breast  and 
other  parts  of  the  body  of  the  person  baptized. 
This  was  the  custom  both  in  the  East  and  West. 

After  baptism  it  was  the  custom  in  the  East  for 
the  same  priest  to  anoint  the  forehead  of  the  baptized 
person  with  chrism  (a  mixture  of  oil  and  balsam) 
which  had  been  consecrated  by  a  bishop.  In  the 
West  this  second  anointing  was  done  some  time  after 
the  baptism,  and  had  always  been  the  function  of 

1  E.  and  H.  iii.  54  ;  Barmby,  56. 

8  E.  and  H.  viii.  27.  They  may  be  seen  in  the  mosaics  of  the 
time,  especially  in  those  of  St.  Vitale,  where  they  are  worn  by  the 
Emperor,  the  officers  of  his  Court,  the  Bishop  of  Ravenna,  and  his 
deacons.  The  Pope's  campagi,  it  would  seem,  had  something  special 
about  them,  for  a  scholiast  of  a  letter  of  Anastasius  the  aprocrisiarius 
says  he  had  received,  as  a  relic,  one  of  the  campagi  of  Pope  Martin, 
and  says  of  it,  "  quod  nullus  alius  inter  homines  portet  nisi  sancius 
Papa  Romanus"  (Duchesne,  395). 


ST.  GREGORY'S  DISCIPLINARY  REGULATIONS   59 

a  bishop  if  he  was  available,  and  a  bishop  alone 
had  marked  the  forehead  with  a  cross,  constituting 
the  rite  of  confirmation.1  Gregory,  however,  relaxed 
the  Rule  when  there  was  a  lack  of  bishops.2 

In  regard  to  the  minor  officials,  the  churches, 
says  Mr.  Dudden,  were  cared  for  by  sacristans, 
mansionarii,  who  kept  them  clean,  saw  to  the 
lamps,  kept  the  worshippers  in  order,  and  opened 
and  closed  the  buildings  at  the  proper  time.  Alms 
were  distributed  in  the  porches,  and  beggars  had 
their  stations  there  as  in  the  present  day.  The 
custom  of  burial  in  churches  had  begun,  and  bishops 
had  exacted  money  for  the  privilege.  Gregory  said 
it  was  good  for  those  whose  sins  were  not  great, 
but  perilous  and  presumptuous  for  the  wicked 
to  have  this  privilege ;  and  he  states  how  martyrs 
had  appeared  and  ordered  such  bodies  to  be  re- 
moved, and  foul  spirits  came  and  dragged  them  out 
by  the  feet,  while  shrieks  of  agony  were  sometimes 
heard  coming  from  a  tomb,  and  the  corpses  mysteri- 
ously disappeared.3 

In  regard  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  secular  courts 
over  the  clergy,  Justinian  had  exempted  bishops  from 
trial  by  them  for  any  cause  without  the  Emperor's 
consent ;  the  rest  of  the  clergy  were  also  exempted 
except  for  the  graver  charges  of  murder,  rebellion, 
etc.,  and  in  civil  causes  unless  both  sides  agreed. 
Gregory  provided  that,  except  as  here  mentioned, 
ecclesiastical  offences  should  be  tried  by  the  episcopal 

1  See  Barmby,  Epistles  of  Gregory,  vol.  i.  p.  153,  note. 

2  E.  and  H.  iv.  9  and  26 ;  Barmby,  iv.  9  and  27. 

3  Op,  cit,  i.  352,  giving  various  references  to  the  Pope's  letters. 


60  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

courts  alone,  and  when  the  defendant  was  a  bishop, 
by  his  metropolitan  or  patriarch,  and  in  default  by 
the  Apostolic  See,  the  head  of  all  the  Churches. 
Bishops,  again,  had  the  right  of  intercession  for  those 
condemned  in  the  secular  courts ;  Gregory  made 
regulations  to  prevent  this  dangerous  privilege  from 
being  abused.  Bishops,  again,  were  empowered  in 
many  cases  to  mitigate  cases  of  wrong-doing,  and 
of  cruelty  towards,  and  persecution  of,  the  poor  and  of 
helpless  people  to  whom  the  courts  were  not  always 
accessible  because  of  their  poverty.  Gregory 
further  regulated  the  right  of  asylum  so  that  it 
should  not  be  used  to  screen  wrong-doers.  In  the 
case  of  runaway  slaves  care  was  to  be  taken  that 
they  had  not  behaved  ill  to  their  masters.  If  the 
latter  recovered  them  by  a  promise  of  better  be- 
haviour and  then  broke  it,  they  were  to  be  excom- 
municated. Gregory's  theory  was  that  sanctuary 
was  not  a  protection  for  the  guilty,  but  only  a 
guarantee  of  fair  treatment.1 

Scandalous  or  lapsed  priests  were  deprived  of 
their  orders  and  reduced  to  the  status  of  laymen, 
and  in  bad  cases  excommunicated,  and  were  never 
allowed  to  resume  their  former  life.  Gregory  was 
particularly  exacting  in  regard  to  the  complete  and 
final  nature  of  this  penalty.  Lapsed  priests  might 
be  received  in  monasteries,  and  it  was  enjoined  that 
they  should,  in  fact,  be  sent  to  them  and  do  ample 
penance.  The  rule  was  rigidly  applied  to  all  the 
orders  from  bishops  to  subdeacons.  Lapsed  monks 
1  Dudden,  i.  394. 


ST.  GREGORY'S  DISCIPLINARY  REGULATIONS  61 

and  even  abbots  were  treated  more  tenderly,  and 
after  fitting  penance  were  allowed  to  resume  their 
old  life,  the  distinction  being  that  no  man  ought  to 
perform  the  priestly  office  again,  after  lapsing. 

In  regard  to  church  fees,  Gregory  adhered  to  the 
decree  of  Gelasius  and  that  of  the  third  Council  of 
Braga,  by  which  the  clergy  were  not  to  charge  for 
baptism  or  confirmation,  nor  at  the  consecration  of 
churches  ;  both  practices  he  forbids.  Gregory,  how- 
ever, maintained  an  arrangement  of  Pelagius  the 
Second,  by  which  the  parochial  clergy  contributed  a 
fixed  sum  to  pay  the  expenses  of  the  attendants  of 
the  bishop  when  confirming.  He  also  forbade  fees 
being  exacted  for  ordinations,  for  marriages  of 
inferior  clerics,  or  the  veiling  of  virgins,  but  did  not 
object  to  spontaneous  gifts  being  given  on  such 
occasions  to  the  bishops,  though  he  discouraged  the 
practice  and  would  accept  none  himself.  He  further 
forbade  the  buying  of  a  burial-place  by  any  one  for 
a  price,  quoting  the  conduct  of  the  men  of  Sichem 
towards  Abraham.  No  charge  was  to  be  made  for 
burial,  even  to  a  stranger.  A  voluntary  gift  of 
something  for  lights  by  the  relative  or  heirs  was, 
however,  permissible.1 

1  Dudden,  i.  400  and  401. 


CHAPTER    III 

HAVING  thus  glanced  over  the  Pope's  method  of 
dealing  with  the  secular  clergy  over  whom  he 
presided,  let  us  now  turn  to  the  regulars  whom  he 
deemed  his  special  children. 

As  the  great  monkish  order  of  St.  Benedict  had 
so  much  to  do  with  the  evangelisation  of  Britain, 
it  is  necessary  that  we  should  realise  the  life  these 
monks  led  and  the  conditions  under  which  they  did 
their  work. 

What  we  know  of  the  founder  of  the  Benedictine 
order  is  based  almost  entirely  on  the  biography 
of  him  by  St.  Gregory  and  incorporated  in  his 
Dialogues.  It  is  a  typical  "Saint's  life,"  in  which 
the  miraculous  and  the  fantastic  are  so  mingled  with 
the  story  that  it  is  almost  impossible  to  disentangle 
what  is  true  from  what  is  fictitious.  It  affords  an 
excellent  example  of  the  extreme  credulity  of  the 
times.  Gregory  claims  to  have  collected  the  facts 
he  mentions  mainly  from  four  of  St.  Benedict's 
disciples :  Constantine,  who  succeeded  him  in  the 
government  of  the  Monastery  of  St.  Cassino ;  Val- 
entinian,  who  long  ruled  in  the  Benedictine  monas- 
tery near  the  Lateran ;  Simplicius,  who  was  the 

third   abbot   of  Monte  Cassino ;   and    Honoratus, 

63 


SAINT  BENEDICT  OF  NURSIA  63 

who    governed    Benedict's   original    foundation   at 
Subiaco.1 

Gregory  tells  us  Benedict  was  born  at  Nursia, 
now  called  Norcia,  a  town  which  still  survives 
among  the  Apennines  at  the  foot  of  Monte  Sibillini. 
The  famous  Roman  rebel,  Sertorius,  was  also  born 
there.  Benedict  sprang  from  noble  parents.  Later 
biographers  associate  him,  as  later  biographers  of 
Gregory  associated  that  Pope,  with  the  Anicia 
gens,  but  with  very  slight  warrant.  He  was  sent 
to  Rome  to  be  educated,  but  was  as  little  at- 
tracted by  the  study  of  letters  as  he  was  by  the 
frivolous  and  vicious  atmosphere  of  the  capital, 
and  was  carried  along  by  the  afflatus  which  at  this 
time  urged  so  many  noble  youths  to  forsake  the 
world  and  to  devote  themselves  to  the  austere  life 
of  a  recluse,  and  became  an  anchorite  in  a  secluded 
cave  amidst  bramble-covered  rocks  at  Subiaco,  at 
the  source  of  the  Anio,  which  is  still  known  as  the 
Sacro  Speco.  There  he  adopted  a  monk's  dress,  and 
there  he  lived  for  several  years  a  life  of  extreme 
asceticism,  until,  his  fame  having  spread,  disciples 
came  to  him  from  all  sides,  chiefly  those  of  high  and 
noble  rank.  Among  them  Equitius,  with  his  boy 
Maurus,  who  afterwards  became  his  favourite 
disciple.  The  French  claim  him  as  the  founder  of 
the  congregation  of  St.  Maur.  There  also  came 
Tertullus,  the  senator,  with  his  little  boy  Placidus, 
who  was  but  seven  or  eight  years  old,  and  others. 
It  became  necessary  to  organise  the  gathering,  and 

1  Dial.  ii.  Prol. 


64  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

Benedict  accordingly  founded  twelve  monasteries, 
each  with  twelve  monks  and  an  abbot,  while  the  rest 
and  more  devoted  of  his  disciples  remained  in  at- 
tendance on  the  master  himself  at  the  Sacro  Speco.1 
These  monasteries  were  planted  along  the  heights 
bordering  the  lonely  valley  of  the  Anio. 

After  spending  thirty  years  at  Subiaco,  Benedict 
was  induced  by  the  persecutions  of  a  neighbouring 
priest  and  other  reasons  to  migrate  to  another  home, 
and  with  a  number  of  his  most  famous  devotees  he 
moved  fifty  miles  away  and  settled  on  a  hill  over- 
looking the  meandering  Lirio,  known  all  over  the 
world  as  Monte  Cassino.  There  he  founded  another 
monastery,  which  became  the  mother  of  the  great 
Order  he  had  unwittingly  started  on  its  wonderful 
journey.  Unwittingly  I  say,  for  it  is  impossible  to 
believe  that  whatever  ambitions  he  may  have  had, 
he  could  have  dreamt  of  the  vast  army  of  monks  who 
presently  looked  upon  him  as  their  father,  and  who 
lived  in  thousands  of  abbeys  in  all  parts  of  Christen- 
dom. No  fewer  than  15,070  Benedictine  houses 
had  been  founded  before  the  Council  of  Constance. 
At  Monte  Cassino  Benedict  lived  for  fifteen  years 
longer  and  then  died,  "supported  on  his  feet,"  we  are 
told,  "and  with  his  hands  extended  to  heaven  and 
praying."  This  was  probably  in  the  year  543  or  544. 
He  was  buried  in  the  same  grave  with  his  sister, 
Scholastica,  who  had  also  adopted  the  religious  life  in 
a  cell  close  by  the  monastery.  He  was  then  sixty- 
three  or  sixty-four  years  old,  having  been  born  in 

1  Dial.  ii.  3. 


SAINT  BENEDICTS  RULE  65 

480.  He  was  Gregory's  great  ideal.  "  Long  after 
his  death,  an  archbishop  of  Salerno,  who  had  him- 
self been  trained  at  Monte  Cassino,  bestowed  on  him 
the  well-deserved  title — Fundator placidae  quietatis" 
From  his  heart,  says  Pope  Urban  the  Second,  as 
from  the  fountainhead  of  Paradise,  there  sprang  the 
religion  of  the  monastic  order — Monasticae  ordinis 

o 

religio. 

The  most  important  thing  to  remember  about 
Benedict  is  that  he  was  not  a  priest.  He  was 
simply  a  monk,  and  a  monk  at  this  time  meant  a 
layman  who  had  taken  vows,  was  tonsured  and  de- 
voted to  religion,  and  living  with  others  in  com- 
munity, according  to  a  Rule.  The  great  feature  of 
Benedict's  polity  was  his  Rule.  It  is  that  which 
gave  his  Order  its  great  influence  and  caused  it  to 
supplant  so  many  earlier  Orders.  It  will  be  well  to 
realise  what  it  consisted  in. 

The  earlier  monks  had  one  dominant  motive  in 
retiring  from  the  world,  namely,  to  lead  a  life  of 
secluded  and  ascetic  contemplation.  Benedict  in- 
troduced a  new  notion  into  his  Rule,  namely,  the 
duty  of  work  as  well  as  contemplation.  "  Probably 
not  even  the  founder  himself  foresaw  all  the  pro- 
spective advantages  of  his  law,  which  was  destined 
not  merely  to  make  many  a  wilderness  and  solitary 
plain  to  rejoice  with  fertility,  but  to  expand  further 
into  a  noble,  intellectual  fruitfulness,  which  has  been 
the  glory  of  the  Benedictine  Order."1  Idleness, 
according  to  Benedict,  was  the  great  enemy  of  the 

1  Dr.  Littledale,  Ency.  Brit,  gth  ed.,  article  "Benedict." 
5 


66  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

soul,  an  aphorism  we  find  it  convenient  to  remember 
in  another  form  when  we  say  that  the  devil  finds 
work  for  idle  hands  to  do.  Constant  occupation, 
absolute  obedience,  and  simplicity  of  living  were  his 
three  cardinal  principles. 

Benedict's  Rule  consists  of  seventy- three  clauses. 
It  begins  with  a  kind  of  sermon  and  then  goes  on 
to  describe  the  various  kinds  of  monks  then  exist- 
ing, such  as  Coenobites,  Anchorites,  Sarabaites 
(living  by  twos  and  threes  together,  without  any 
fixed  rule  or  lawful  superior),  and  Gyrovagi,  vagrant 
tramps,  who  were  continually  bringing  discredit  on 
the  monks'  profession.  It  was  the  great  object  of 
Benedict's  Rule  to  get  rid  of  the  two  latter  classes, 
and  he  accordingly  added  a  fourth  to  the  three 
usual  monkish  vows  of  obedience,  poverty,  and 
humility — namely,  stability.  This  rule  bound  a  monk, 
after  a  year's  probation,  to  perpetual  vows,  and  con- 
strained him  to  continue  to  reside  duringhis  life  at  the 
monastery  where  he  had  professed,  unless  transferred 
either  temporarily  or  permanently  by  his  superiors. 

To  the  Abbot,  Benedict  gave  absolute  authority  : 
there  was  no  other  way  of  maintaining  discipline  in 
a  large  community  of  men  of  different  temperaments 
and  characters.  He  was  to  be  obeyed  in  all  things. 
Obedientia  sine  mora  was  the  prime  rule  of  the 
monastic  life,  and  every  monk  was  to  sacrifice  his 
individual  will  in  all  things.  "We  foresee,"  says 
Benedict,  "  that  it  is  expedient  for  the  preservation  of 
peace  and  charity  that  the  entire  government  of 
the  monastery  depend  upon  the  will  of  the  Abbot." 


SAINT  BENEDICT'S  RULE  67 

No  one  must  therefore  question  his  orders  or  appeal 
from  his  decision.  No  one  must  go  anywhere  or 
do  anything,  however  trifling,  or  receive  any  letter 
or  present  without  the  Abbot's  knowledge  and  con- 
sent. The  Abbot  alone  was  to  prescribe  rewards  or 
punishments  :  all  must  concur  in  his  decision.  No 
one  should  hold  any  intercourse  with  a  contumacious 
monk,  or  one  under  the  Abbot's  displeasure,  or 
defend  or  take  his  part. 

As  a  restraint  upon  the  Abbot,  it  was  provided 
that  when  a  vacancy  in  the  post  arose,  he  should  be 
elected  by  the  community  and  from  its  own  members, 
and  they  were  to  be  guided  by  the  virtue,  learning, 
and  practical  wisdom  of  the  candidate. 

Secondly,  the  Abbot,  like therest of  thecommunity, 
was  bound  by  "the  Rule,"  which  contains  many  in- 
junctions as  to  his  conduct  and  about  his  duty. 
While  strict  to  show  continual  kindness  and  patience 
he  was  not  to  be  forgetful  of  the  individual  idiosyn- 
crasies of  the  various  members  of  his  flock.  The 
Abbot  again,  in  matters  of  difficulty,  was  bidden  to 
consult  with  the  whole  community  (even  the  youngest 
being  allowed  to  speak),  and  on  minor  matters  he 
was  to  take  counsel  with  the  older  monks. 

The  obedience  due  to  the  Abbot  was  to  be  ex- 
tended to  the  Prior  and  the  deans  (officers  set  over 
ten  men  in  the  larger  monasteries),  who  were  to  be 
chosen  from  the  brethren  for  their  merits  and  learn- 
ing, were  to  be  treated  with  suitable  respect  by  the 
monks,  and  were  to  be  similarly  obedient  to  the 
Abbot,  who  could  always  depose  them.  No  worldly 


68  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

differences  in  rank  or  social  position  were  tolerated 
among  the  monks  themselves,  all  being  in  that  sense 
equal.  On  the  other  hand,  a  seniority  was  con- 
ceded to  the  older  monks  and  those  whose  lives  were 
especially  exemplary,  or  had  been  specially  selected 
by  the  Abbot,  and  they  were  to  be  styled  "  Father" 
by  the  juniors.  The  latter  were  to  ask  their  bless- 
ing, to  rise  from  their  seats  when  they  passed,  and 
never  to  sit  in  their  presence  without  permission. 

In  order  to  encourage  the  habit  of  implicit 
obedience  and  deference,  Benedict  was  continually 
inculcating  the  virtue  he  valued  most,  namely,  that 
of  humility,  which  he  described  as  forming  a  series 
of  steps  on  the  ladder  of  an  ideal  life  like  those  on 
Jacob's  ladder.  The  first  was  the  fear  of  God  ;  the 
second,  the  surrender  of  self-will ;  the  third,  implicit 
obedience  to  authority  ;  the  fourth,  patience  under 
difficulties  and  ill-treatment ;  the  fifth,  confession  to 
the  Abbot  of  all  secret  sins  of  act  or  thought ;  the 
sixth,  contentment  with  the  meanest  condition ;  the 
seventh,  not  only  the  declaration  but  the  inward 
feeling  of  inferiority  to  others  ;  the  eighth,  obedience 
to  the  Rule  and  the  superiors  ;  the  ninth,  the  practice 
of  silence  ;  the  tenth,  abstention  from  laughter  and 
buffoonery ;  the  eleventh,  the  habit  of  speaking 
briefly,  quietly,  gravely,  and  humbly ;  lastly,  the 
twelfth,  the  adoption  of  a  humble  demeanour,  with 
the  head  bent  and  the  eyes  fixed  on  the  ground,  and 
this  at  all  times,  whether  at  work,  in  the  oratory, 
the  monastery,  the  garden,  field,  or  road. 

Benedict  probably  instituted  what  has  become  a 


SAINT  BENEDICT'S  RULE  69 

golden  rule  of  all  monastic  establishments,  namely, 
the  system  of  the  eight  daily  services,  known  as  the 
Canonical  Hours.  These  were  fixed  at  intervals  of 
three  hours  throughout  the  day  and  night,  and  were 
named  Nocturns,  Matins,  Prime,  Tierce,  Sext,  None, 
Vespers,  and  Compline.  At  the  Hours  a  portion 
of  the  Psalter  was  recited,  and  the  whole  Psalter  was 
gone  through  weekly,  starting  again  every  Sunday 
at  Matins.  These  Hours  were  sung  or  recited  in 
quire,  when  all  but  the  sick  or  those  having  dispensa- 
tion must  attend.  Opportunities  for  private  prayer 
and  meditation  were  also  provided.  The  only  read- 
ing permitted  to  the  monks  was  from  the  Bible  or 
other  religious  books,  and  for  this,  two  or  three 
hours  daily  were  set  apart  on  weekdays  and  a 
longer  time  on  Sundays. 

The  Abbot  or  his  deputy  was  to  give  notice  of 
the  different  church  services,  and  no  incompetent 
person  was  to  be  allowed  to  read  or  chant.  Chapter 
xxi.  of  the  Rule  provided  for  the  appointments  of 
deans  (officers  set  over  ten  monks)  in  the  large 
monasteries,  to  be  chosen  by  merit  and  not  by  seni- 
ority. The  next  chapter  contained  directions  about 
the  dormitory.  Each  monk  was  to  have  a  separate 
bed  with  a  straw  mattress,  blanket,  quilt,  and  pillow, 
and  was  to  sleep  in  his  habit  and  girdle,  so  as  to  be 
ready  to  rise  at  a  moment's  notice,  while  a  light  was 
to  be  kept  burning  in  the  dormitory  till  the  morning. 

The  next  eight  chapters  dealt  with  offenders,  for 
whom  a  graduated  scale  of  penalties  was  provided  : 
first,  private  admonition ;  next,  separation  from  the 


70  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

brethren  at  meals,  or  recreation,  and  exclusion  from 
reading  the  lessons  or  intoning  ;  then  scourging,  and 
finally  expulsion  in  the  case  of  hardened  offenders. 
The  outcast  might  be  received  again  three  times  on 
condition  of  forfeiting  his  seniority  and  descending 
to  the  lowest  place.  After  a  third  expulsion,  return 
was  debarred. 

Chapter  xxxi.  dealt  with  the  cellarer  and  his  duties. 
He  was  steward,  and  had  charge  of  all  the  stores 
and  had  to  serve  them  out.  Then  comes  a  chapter 
dealing  with  the  inferior  officers,  who  had  charge  of 
the  tools,  clothes,  and  goods  of  the  monastery. 

Chapter  xxxii.  embodied  the  regulations  about 
poverty  and  the  abnegation  of  private  property, 
which  were  so  stringently  exacted  by  the  various  later 
reformers  of  monachism.  "  Especially  let  this  sin  be 
cut  away  from  the  monastery  by  the  very  roots,"  says 
Benedict,  "that  no  one  presume  without  leave  of 
the  Abbot  to  give,  receive,  or  hold  as  his  own  any- 
thing whatsoever,  either  book,  or  writing  tablets,  a 
pen,  or  anything  at  all ;  for  monks  are  men  whose 
very  bodies  and  wills  are  not  in  their  own  power." 
The  Abbot  was  to  supply  all  necessaries,  and  any 
murmuring  at  the  manner  of  distribution  was  treated 
as  a  very  serious  offence. 

Chapter  xxxv.  provided  that  the  brethren  were 
to  serve  in  the  kitchen  by  turns,  unless  excused  by 
reason  of  sickness  or  some  other  more  important 
occupation.  They  worked  in  relays  for  a  week  at 
this  duty,  and  those  on  duty  on  Saturday  night  were 
to  clean  up  and  to  deliver  all  the  clothes  and 


SAINT  BENEDICT'S  RULE  71 

utensils  to  the  cellarer  in  good  condition  for  their 
successors.  They  were  to  begin  their  week's  work 
with  prayers  that  they  might  do  it  well,  and  end  it 
by  making  amends  for  what  they  had  done  ill. 
The  sick  were  to  be  patient  and  not  exacting.  An 
infirmary  was  to  be  provided  for  them,  and  a  com- 
petent attendant  was  charged  with  their  care.  They 
were  to  have  baths  as  often  as  was  expedient,  and 
allowed  a  flesh  diet.  Old  men  and  children  were 
also  dispensed  from  the  rigour  of  the  Rule,  and  might 
have  their  meals  before  the  usual  hours.  During 
meals  reading  aloud  was  prescribed,  but  no  con- 
versation, even  about  the  subject  of  the  reading, 
was  to  take  place  between  the  brethren,  who  at 
meals  were  only  to  speak  by  signs.  The  reader 
was  to  be  appointed  for  a  week,  and  entered  on  his 
duties  on  Sunday.  He  was  allowed  a  little  food 
before  beginning,  but  was  to  finish  his  meal  after- 
wards with  the  kitcheners  and  waiters. 

Chapters  xxxix.  and  xl.  prescribed  the  daily 
rations  of  meat  and  drink.  These  meals  consisted 
of  two  hot  dishes  (pulmentaria\  to  permit  a  choice 
of  food  to  those  to  whom  one  might  be  distasteful ; 
a  third  dish  of  fruit  or  young  vegetables  was  given 
occasionally.  A  pound  of  bread  was  served  out 
daily  for  each  monk,  which  the  Abbot  could  increase 
in  the  case  of  the  hard-worked,  while  children's 
rations  were  similarly  diminished.  The  flesh  of 
four-footed  beasts  was  forbidden  to  all  except  the 
sick  and  weakly  ;  the  use  of  poultry,  eggs,  and  fish 
was  optional.  One  pint  of  wine  was  allowed  daily 


72  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

to  each  monk ;  but  the  monks  were  instructed 
that  voluntary  abstinence  in  this  matter  was  the 
best,  and  they  were  not  to  murmur  when  the  house 
was  too  poor  to  provide  it.  On  weekly  fast  days, 
and  from  the  middle  of  September  till  Easter,  one 
meal  a  day  was  allowed.  During  the  rest  of  the 
year  and  on  Sunday  there  was  a  dinner  in  the 
middle  of  the  day  and  a  supper  in  the  evening.  The 
times  of  meals  at  different  parts  of  the  year  were  pre- 
scribed by  Rule  xli.,  but  both  meals  should  be  taken 
by  daylight,  without  need  of  lamps.  In  the  evening 
the  monks  were  to  assemble  together  for  reading, 
which  was  to  be  preferably  from  the  famousCollations 
of  Abbot  Cassian  of  Lerins,  in  Gaul,  or  the  Lives 
of  the  Fathers.  Cassian's  works  are  referred  to  by 
Gregory  as  "  bene  viventium  et  obedientiwn  mona- 
chorum  instrumenta  virtutum"  This  reading  was 
to  be  after  Compline,  after  which  silence  was  to  be 
strictly  maintained.  Chapters  xliii.  to  xlvi.  imposed 
penalties  for  minor  offences,  such  as  being  late  for 
prayers  or  meals. 

Chapter  xlviii.  of  the  Rule  is  one  of  the  most 
important  ones.  It  refers  to  the  duty  of  daily 
manual  labour  and  is  headed  with  the  terse  aphorism, 
"  Idleness  is  an  enemy  of  the  soul  "  (Otiositas  inimica 
est  animae).  The  kind  of  work  each  man  was  to 
do  was  apportioned  by  the  Abbot,  according  to  the 
different  gifts  of  each.  The  more  learned  monks 
taught  in  the  schools,  others  worked  in  the  fields, 
the  orchard,  or  garden,  or  about  the  repairs  of  the 
buildings,  or  in  different  handicrafts,  others  waited 


SAINT  BENEDICTS  RULE  73 

on  the  sick  or  attended  on  the  Abbot  and  his  guests, 
others,  again,  looked  after  the  external  business  of  the 
Abbey,  while  all  were  supposed  to  take  their  turn  at 
baking,  cooking  the  meals,  and  cleaning  the  rooms. 
The  Rule  provided  that  the  monks  were  to 
distribute  the  time  not  already  taken  up  with 
prayers,  meals,  and  sleep,  into  periods  of  manual 
labour  or  devout  reading.  From  Easter  to  October 
they  were  to  work  from  Prime  to  the  fourth  hour ; 
from  the  fourth  to  nearly  the  sixth  hour  they  were 
to  read.  On  rising  from  their  meals  at  the  sixth 
hour  they  were  to  rest  in  silence  on  their  beds — the 
familiar  siesta  of  warm  countries.  Those,  however, 
who  preferred  to  read  might  do  so,  provided  they 
did  not  disturb  the  others.  Nones  were  to  be  said 
about  the  middle  of  the  eighth  hour,  i.e.  2.30  p.m., 
and  then  work  was  to  be  resumed  till  evening. 
From  the  ist  of  October  to  the  beginning  of  Lent 
they  were  to  read  till  the  second  hour,  then  to  say 
Tierce,  after  which  to  work  till  the  ninth  hour,  when 
they  were  to  leave  off,  and  after  their  meal  to  read 
spiritual  books  or  the  Psalms.  In  Lent  they  were 
to  read  from  the  morning  till  the  third  hour,  then  to 
work  till  the  end  of  the  tenth  hour ;  and  every  one 
was  to  have  a  book  given  out  to  him  from  the 
library  at  the  beginning  of  Lent,  which  he  was  to 
read  through,  while  two  senior  brethren  were  to 
go  the  rounds  during  reading-hours  to  see  that  the 
monks  were  actually  reading,  and  not  lounging  and 
gossiping.  On  Sundays  all  were  to  read  through- 
out the  day  except  those  with  special  duties.  Those 


74  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

who  could  not  or  would  not  either  read  or  meditate 
must  have  some  special  work  assigned  them  to 
keep  them  from  idling.  Sickly  and  delicate  brethren 
were  to  be  given  light  work. 

Chapter  xlix.  suggested,  without  commanding, 
some  voluntary  self-denial  in  Lent,  to  be  under- 
taken only  with  the  Abbot's  approval,  no  doubt  to 
prevent  vainglorious  austerities. 

The  next  chapter  provided  that  brethren  working 
at  a  distance  must  say  their  "  Hours  "  where  they 
happened  to  be.  When  sent  on  an  errand  from  which 
they  were  to  return  the  same  day,  they  were  not  to 
take  refreshments  until  their  return,  without  the 
Abbot's  consent.  This  was  doubtless  to  prevent 
their  making  improper  acquaintances  in  taverns,  etc. 
Chapter  liii.  contained  rules  for  entertaining  guests. 
The  most  note  worthy  of  these  was  that  the  Abbot  was 
allowed  to  break  his  fast  with  his  guests,  except  on 
a  Church  fast  day,  so  as  to  bear  them  company  at 
meal  times,  and  when  the  guests  were  few  he  could 
ask  any  of  the  brethren  to  eat  with  them.  The 
kitchen  for  the  Abbot  and  guests  was  to  be  separate 
from  the  general  kitchen,  and  served  by  the  same 
two  brethren  for  a  year,  so  that  no  extra  labour 
should  be  thrown  on  the  kitcheners.  The  guest- 
room was  to  be  in  charge  of  the  hospitaller,  and  no 
other  monk,  without  permission,  was  to  speak  to  or 
mix  with  the  guests. 

Monks  were  not  to  receive  letters,  tokens,  or 
gifts,  even  from  their  nearest  kin,  without  the  Abbot's 
consent,  nor  to  give  such  things  to  others. 


SAINT  BENEDICTS  RULE  75 

In  regard  to  dress,  Benedict  left  it  open  to  the 
Abbot,  who  had  to  provide  it,  to  decide  that  best 
suited  to  the  climate  and  locality,  merely  prescribing 
that  in  temperate  places  two  habits  and  two  tunics 
should  be  provided  for  night  and  day  wear.  The 
former  were  called  cucullce  or  cowls,  and  doubtless 
resembled  the  cloaks  of  the  later  Capuchins.  In 
one  of  Gregory's  letters  to  the  Presbyter  Palladius 
he  tells  him  he  is  sending  him  a  cuculla  and  a  tunic.1 
The  duplication  of  these  clothes  was  meant  to  pro- 
vide for  summer  and  winter  wear.  The  garments 
for  the  latter  use  were  to  be  made  of  thick  stuff 
lined  with  wool.  Care  was  to  be  taken  that  the 
clothes  fitted.  Each  monk  was  also  to  be  pro- 
vided with  a  scapular,2  shoes  and  stockings,  a 
girdle,  a  knife,  and  a  needle,  a  style  (grapkium),  a 
handkerchief,  and  writing  tablets.  If  a  monk  went 
on  a  journey  he  was  also  given  a  pair  of  drawers 
which,  on  his  return,  were  to  be  replaced  in  the 
common  wardrobe.  For  those  who  were  healthy, 
and  especially  the  young,  the  luxury  of  a  bath  was 
seldom  provided,  which  shows  how  in  some  ways 
we  have  moved  on  since  the  sixth  century. 

Each  monk  was  to  have  a  change  of  garments 
to  allow  of  washing,  and  another,  for  a  journey, 
to  be  made  of  better  materials  and  kept  in  the 
common  wardrobe  when  not  in  use.  Those  who 
were  skilled  as  craftsmen  among  the  brethren  could 

1  E*  and  H.  xi.  I. 

2  A  sleeveless  woollen  garment  passed  over  the  head  and  falling 
down  over  the  breast  and  back  (Dr.  Littledale,  Ency.  Brit,  gth  ed. 
xvi.  705). 


76  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

make  various  articles  with  the  Abbot's  permission, 
and  if  for  sale,  the  objects  were  to  be  sold  at  a  fair 
price  rather  below  than  above  the  current  rate. 

New  members  were  not  to  be  admitted  too 
easily.  The  postulant  was  to  knock  for  admission 
in  vain  for  four  or  five  days,  then  to  be  brought  into 
the  guest-room  for  a  few  days  more,  and  then  to  be 
transferred  to  the  House  of  Novices,  where  he  was 
to  remain  for  two  months  under  the  charge  of  a 
senior  monk.  If  he  still  remained  of  the  same  mind, 
the  Rule  was  to  be  read  over  to  him,  and  the  option 
of  going  or  staying  offered  him.  If  he  decided  to 
stay,  he  was  to  return  to  the  Novice  House  for  six 
months'  further  probation,  when  the  Rule  was  to  be 
again  read  over  to  him,  and  yet  a  third  time  after  a 
further  term  of  four  months.  If  he  still  remained 
of  the  same  mind,  he  was  then  to  divest  himself  of 
all  his  property,  and  either  give  it  to  the  poor  or  to 
the  monastery.  He  then  signed  the  Act  of  Pro- 
fession, including  the  Vow  of  Stability,  which  he  was 
to  lay  on  the  altar  with  his  own  hand. 

Chapter  lix.  provided  for  the  dedication  of 
children,  noble  or  poor,  by  their  parents,  to  be  brought 
up  as  monks.  St.  Benedict  required  a  promise  from 
the  latter  never  to  endow  the  oblate  with  any 
property,  either  directly  or  in  trust,  though  they 
might  leave  their  property  to  the  monastery,  reserv- 
ing a  life  interest  to  themselves. 

The  next  chapter  regulated  the  lives  of  priests 
who  might  wish  to  enter  the  monastery.  They 
were  to  enjoy  no  relaxations  or  priority  in  regard  to 


SAINT  BENEDICT'S  RULE  77 

their  priesthood,  but  the  Abbot  might  assign  clerical 
functions  to  them,  and  similarly  to  those  in  minor 
orders.  Provision  was  also  made  for  the  reception 
of  stranger  monks  as  guests,  and  also  for  their  join- 
ing the  community  if  they  so  wished.  The  Abbot 
was  to  listen  to  the  criticisms  of  such  strangers,  and 
he  could,  if  he  so  pleased,  give  them  higher  standing 
than  that  of  their  entrance.  No  such  monk  was, 
however,  to  be  admitted  without  the  consent  of,  or 
letters  commendatory  from,  his  former  abbot. 

The  Abbot  might  choose  a  monk  for  ordination 
as  priest  or  deacon,  but  he  was  to  have  no  precedence 
in  consequence,  except  when  officiating,  or  in  case 
the  Abbot  and  the  brethren  concurred  in  giving  it 
to  him  on  account  of  superior  merit.  If  he  misbe- 
haved he  was  to  be  reported  to  the  Bishop,  and  if  he 
persistently  disregarded  the  Rule  he  was  to  be  ex- 
pelled. The  Abbot  might  be  selected  either  by  the 
whole  body  or  by  a  select  electoral  committee,  and 
the  lowest  in  standing  might  be  chosen  if  fit.  If  he 
turned  out  to  be  unfit,  the  bishop  of  the  diocese,  or  the 
neighbouring  abbots,  or  even  the  neighbouring  laity 
might  annul  the  election  and  make  a  fresh  choice. 

If  the  Abbot  and  the  Prior  were  often  at  feud, 
Benedict  counselled  dispensing  with  the  latter  unless 
the  circumstances  needed  one.  The  Abbot  might 
nominate  a  brother  to  the  post,  but  he  was  to  be  as 
entirely  subject  to  himself  as  any  other  monk,  and 
might  be  admonished,  deposed,  or  expelled. 

Chapter  Ixvi.  provided  for  the  appointment 
of  a  porter  to  answer  at  the  gate,  and  that  every 


78  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

house  should  have  its  own  well,  mill,  garden,  bakery, 
and  handicraftsmen,  to  avoid  the  necessity  of  inter- 
course with  the  outside  world.  No  monk  was  to 
leave  the  monastery  without  the  Abbot's  leave,  and 
on  his  return  from  any  journey  he  was  to  beg  the 
prayers  of  the  community  for  any  faults  committed 
by  him  in  their  absence,  and  was  forbidden  to  speak 
of  what  he  had  seen  or  heard  outside. 

If  a  monk  received  a  hard  or  impossible  command 
he  was  to  bear  it  patiently  and  obediently,  and  if  he 
found  it  beyond  his  powers  he  was  to  mention  it 
quietly  to  his  superior.  I  f  the  latter  was  still  exacting, 
he  must  try  and  comply  as  best  he  could.  Gregory  in 
his  Dialogues  tells  a  touching  story  of  a  saintly  monk 
named  Libertinus,  who  was  beaten  over  the  head 
and  face  with  a  footstool  till  he  was  black  and  blue 
by  a  superior.  He  submitted  with  patience,  and 
when  asked  how  his  face  came  to  be  in  such  a  plight 
merely  answered,  "  Yesterday,  for  my  sins,  I  came 
in  contact  with  a  footstool,  and  suffered  thus."1 
Monks  were  not  to  defend  each  other  against  their 
superiors  in  the  monastery,  even  if  they  happened  to 
be  kinsmen.  They  were  not  to  strike  or  excom- 
municate each  other  without  the  Abbot's  consent. 
Children  under  fifteen  were  to  be  under  discipline 
from  all  the  monks;  but  the  latter  when  unduly  severe, 
or  who  should  chastise  children  over  fifteen  without 
the  Abbot's  consent,  were  themselves  to  be  punished. 
The  Rule  closed  with  a  note  to  the  effect  that  it  was  not 
offered  as  an  ideal  of  perfection,  or  even  as  equal  to  the 
1  Op.  cit.  \.  2  ;  Barmby,  Gregory  the  Great,  55. 


DR.  LITTLEDALE  ON  ST.  BENEDICT'S  RULE     79 

teachings  of  Cassian  and  Basil,  but  for  mere  beginners 
in  the  spiritual  life  who  might  thence  proceed  further. 

When  we  look  over  these  clauses  of  a  most 
remarkable  monument  we  shall  cease  to  wonder, 
perhaps,  how  a  Rule  of  Life  which  was  afterwards  to 
enable  large  numbers  of  men  of  different  conditions 
and  stations  of  life  and  different  temperaments  to 
live  together  with  little  friction  and  eminent  comfort 
should  have  lasted  so  long  without  amendment  and 
alteration,  and  should  still  remain  the  ideal  of  all 
Monkish  Rules.  What  we  are  most  struck  by  is 
the  singular  moderation  and  good  sense  of  the 
provisions,  the  stand  taken  in  them  against  ex- 
travagance, extreme  rigour,  and  petty  and  burden- 
some regulations,  especially  against  the  exaggerated 
mortifications  and  austerities  which  had  converted 
the  lives  of  anchorites  in  the  East  and  West  into  mere 
shadows  of  those  of  Indian  fakirs,  and  which  were  so 
much  imitated  in  later  and  more  exacting  Orders  of 
Reformed  Benedictines, like  theTrappists  andothers. 
The  rigidity  of  these  later  Rules  is  in  striking  con- 
trast with  the  adaptability  of  that  of  St.  Benedict, 
in  which  so  much  is  left  to  the  personal  initiative  of 
the  Abbot.  It  strikes  one  as  the  very  ideal  of  a  Rule 
of  Life  to  be  pursued  by  men  living  in  community  in 
the  various  and  varying  latitudes  of  the  world,  from 
the  tropics  to  the  coldest  and  most  harsh. 

"  Plain  and  poor  as  the  prescribed  food  and  lodg- 
ing appears,"  says  Dr.  Littledale,  "if  tested  by 
modern  notions,  yet  it  is  to  be  remembered  that  what 
is  called  '  comfort '  is  a  wholly  recent  idea,  and  even 


8o  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

still  scarcely  familiar,  it  may  be  said,  out  of  Great 
Britain  and  its  colonies.  The  scale  of  living  ap- 
pointed by  the  Rule  secures  a  greater  abundance  of 
the  necessaries  of  life,  not  only  than  was  at  all  com- 
mon among  the  Italian  poor  of  the  sixth  century, 
but  than  is  to  be  found  amongst  the  humbler 
peasantry  of  any  European  country  at  the  present 
day ;  while  even  the  excluded  superfluities  entered  but 
little  into  the  habits  of  any  save  the  very  wealthy.  .  .  . 
The  most  valuable  feature  of  the  Rule  is  the  position 
of  dignity  it  gives  to  work.  It  is  scarcely  possible 
to  realise  at  the  present  day  the  dishonour  into  which 
toil  of  all  kinds  had  sunk  in  the  days  of  Benedict. 
Not  only  had  the  institution  of  slavery  degraded 
many  kinds  of  occupation,  but  the  gradual  disappear- 
ance from  Italy  of  the  yeoman  class,  ruined  and 
exiled  by  the  concentration  of  great  estates  (lati- 
fundia),  or  slain  in  the  ceaseless  battles  of  competi- 
tors for  empire,  or  of  barbarian  invaders,  left  few  but 
serfs  and  herdsmen  to  till  the  soil,  while  the  military 
habits  of  the  invading  tribes  led  them  to  con- 
temn any  life  except  that  of  a  warrior.  It  is  the 
special  glory  of  Benedict  that  he  taught  the  men 
of  his  day  that  work,  sanctified  by  prayer,  is  the 
best  thing  that  man  can  do,  and  the  lesson  has 
never  been  quite  lost  sight  of  since." 

Benedict's  original  Monastery  of  Monte  Cassino 

was  destroyed  by  the   Lombards  in  589.     As  we 

have  seen,  its  abbot  and  other  monks  sought  shelter 

at  Rome  and  were  credited  with  having  persuaded 

1  Littledale,  Ency.  Brit,  gth  ed.  vol.  xvi.  p.  705. 


ADAPTATION  OF  SAINT  BENEDICT'S  RULE     81 

Gregory  to  found  his  own  monastery.  The  emi- 
grants themselves  planted  the  first  Benedictine  con- 
vent in  Rome,  near  the  Lateran  Palace,  which  was 
named  after  the  two  St.  Johns — the  Evangelist  and 
the  Baptist.  Its  first  abbot  was  called  Valentinian, 
and  during  the  period  of  one  hundred  and  fifty 
years,  while  the  monastery  at  Monte  Cassino  was  in 
ruins  and  abandoned,  its  Roman  daughter  flourished 
greatly.  It  then  fell  into  decadence,  but  was  restored 
again  in  the  eighth  century  by  Gregory  n.  This 
monastery  disappeared  in  the  later  Middle  Ages.1 

It  was  from  these  emigrants  from  Monte  Cassino 
that  Gregory  probably  imbibed  the  love  for  the  mon- 
astic life  which  was  his  ruling  passion  in  after  life, 
and  which  led  him  to  devote  so  much  of  his  fortune 
to  the  foundation  of  monasteries. 

The  monasteries  at  this  time,  especially  those 
in  the  more  secluded  districts  which  had  not  been 
ravaged  by  the  barbarians,  were  the  most  prosper- 
ous institutions  of  the  age,  havens  of  refuge  for  the 
destitute  and  oppressed.  In  them  men  and  women 
found  that  peace  and  rest  and  idyllic  life  which  was 
impossible  elsewhere.  Gregory  describes  the  monks 
in  his  Dialogues  as  engaged  in  homely  country  pur- 
suits, looking  after  their  gardens,  mowing  hay  in 
the  fields,  building  walls,  baking  bread,  gathering 
olives,  looking  after  the  oratory,  cleaning  the  lamps, 
etc.  etc.  In  one  case  only  do  we  find  an  instance 
of  monks  engaged  in  copying  manuscripts.2  The 
monasteries  benefited  much  from  the  gifts  and 

1  Gregorovius,  op.  cit.  It.  ed.  i.  363,  notes.        8  Dialogues,  i.  4. 
6 


82  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

legacies  of  the  rich  people  who  at  this  period  crowded 
into  them  to  enjoy  the  simple  life,  and  they  were 
consequently  well  appointed,  had  their  farms,  their 
oliveyards,  and  vineyards.1 

There  has  been  considerable  discussion  as  to 
the  Rule  adopted  by  Gregory  in  his  monasteries. 
Mabillon  and  the  Benedictines  have  generally 
argued  that  he  adopted  the  Benedictine  one.  The 
Jesuit  Baronius  suggests  that  he  adopted  that  of 
St.  Equitius,  of  whom  Gregory  gives  an  account  in 
his  Dialogues.  Inter  alia,  he  says  of  him  that  he 
founded  many  monasteries  in  the  province  of  Valeria 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  Lake  Fucini  in  the  Abruzzi. 
The  notion  that  Gregory  followed  Equitius  in  his 
Rule  seems  most  improbable.  Equitius  was  a  person 
of  slight  culture  and  much  rusticity,  and  his  Rule  must 
have  been  a  crude  performance.2  It  is  very  unlikely 
that  Gregory  should  have  gone  to  such  a  guide  in 
matters  so  near  his  own  heart.  He  always  speaks  of 
St.  Benedict  in  laudatory  terms,  and  apostrophises  his 
Rule  for  its  marvellous  discretion  and  lucidity,3  and 

1  Dudden,  i.  346. 

2  Gregory  in  his  Dialogues  has  described  this  precursor  of  the 
itinerant  evangelists  of  modern  dissent :  "  He  had  such  a  zeal  for 
winning  souls  that  he  travelled  up  and  down  the  country,  visiting 
towns,  villages,  churches,  and  private  houses,  and  trying  by  all  means 
to  stir  men's  hearts  to  the  love  of  the  heavenly  country.     His  dress 
was  so  coarse  and  shabby  that  many  who  did  not  know  him  disdained 
even  to  reply  to  his  salutation.     He  rode  upon  the  worst  beast  that 
could  be  found,  with  a  halter  for  bridle  and  for  saddle  a  sheep's  skin  ; 
on  right  and  left  hung  leather  bags  stuffed  with  parchments  of  the 
Holy  Scriptures.     Everywhere  he  went  'he  opened  the  fountain  of 
Scripture,  and  watered  men's  souls  with  his  sermons'"  (Dialogues^ 
\.  4 ;  Dudden,  i.  347~348). 

3  Dial.  ii.  36. 


SAINT  GREGORY'S  MONASTIC  DISCIPLINE     83 

we  can  hardly  doubt  that  it  was  St.  Benedict's  Rule 
that  he  made  the  basis  of  his  own  regulations.  This 
he  seems  to  have  somewhat  altered  and  adapted  tothe 
conditions  existing  in  large  cities  like  Rome.  Inter 
alia,  he  devoted  more  time  to  study  and  less  to  work. 
The  Rule  thus  modified  was  known  as  St.  Gregory's. 
Such  a  Rule  is  referred  to  very  early,  namely,  in  a 
letter  written  by  Pope  Honorius  to  Honorius,  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury,  in  which  he  speaks  of  St. 
Gregory's  Rule  (sectantemque  .  .  .  Sancti  Gregorii 
regulam).1 

St.  Dunstan  prescribed  that  the  seven  canoni- 
cal hours  should  be  recited  by  the  monks  of  Canter- 
bury during  Easter, ' '  after  the  fashion  of  St.  Gregory  " 
(septem  horae  canonicae  a  Monachis  in  Ecclesia  Dei, 
more  canonicorum  propter  aucthoritatem  S.  Gregorii 
celebrandae  sunf).  This  custom  was  abolished  by 
Lanfranc.2 

Gregory  treated  the  monks  as  quite  a  different 
order  and  class  of  beings  to  the  working  clergy,  and 
it  was  he  who  first  countenanced  (in  a  moderate 
way)  what  became  a  very  great  evil  in  the  Middle 
Ages,  namely,  the  exemption  of  the  regular  clergy 
from  episcopal  control,  which  supervision  had  been 
insisted  upon  by  the  Council  of  Chalcedon. 

This  was  not  all.  He  endeavoured  to  draw  a 
rigid  line  between  monks  and  the  secular  clergy  in 
other  ways.  He  would  not  allow  a  priest  or  deacon 

v  Bede,  E,  and  H.  ii.  18. 

2  Cone.  Monast.  apud  Reiner,  par.  iii.  p.  899.  Wilk.  Con.  inter. 
Constit.  Lanfranc.  i.  339.  See  also  Lingard,  Anglo-Saxon  Church, 
i.  301,  note. 


84  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

to  become  an  abbot  unless  he  gave  up  his  pastoral 
clerical  functions,  fearing  that  his  less  regulated  life 
might  impair  the  discipline  of  the  monastery.  It  was, 
of  course,  necessary  that  some  monks  should  be  also 
priests  in  order  to  celebrate  Mass  in  the  communities; 
nor  did  the  Pope  wish  to  prevent  monks  becoming 
bishops,  but  every  monk  called  to  an  ecclesiastical 
office,  or  benefice,  was  to  leave  his  monastery  and 
not  return  to  it ;  nor  would  he  consent  that  Urbicus, 
Abbot  of  St.  Hermas  and  General  Superior  of  the 
Sicilian  monasteries,  should  be  elected  Archbishop 
of  Palermo.  He  deemed  the  life  of  a  monk  and 
of  an  ecclesiastic  to  be  incongruous  and  mutually 
injurious  to  each  other. 

He  reformed  and  made  more  stringent  the 
monastic  discipline.  He  pitilessly  deposed  all  abbots 
leading  an  irregular  life,  and  forbade  bishops  to 
shelter  rebellious  or  vagabond  monks,  or  those  who 
had  been  excommunicated  by  their  abbots ;  nor 
would  he  permit  the  monks  to  wander  about  from 
one  house  to  another,  and  to  prevent  this  he  insisted 
that  each  monastery  should  have  a  secular  and  paid 
procurator.  To  prevent  incontinence  he  ordered 
that  the  monasteries  of  the  two  sexes  should  be 
planted  far  apart,  and  that  on  no  pretence  should 
women  have  access  to  communities  of  men.  The 
Council  of  Chalcedon  had  expressly  excommunicated 
all  monks  who  married.  Its  decrees  on  this  subject 
were  strongly  upheld  by  Gregory,  but  his  kindly 
disposition  was  not  equal  to  imposing  very  harsh 
penalties.  When  his  friend  Venantius,  who  had 


SAINT  GREGORY'S  MONASTIC  DISCIPLINE     85 

been  a  monk,  left  his  monastery  and  married,  he 
expostulated  with  him  and  with  his  wife,  and  when 
he  became  a  widower  tried  to  induce  him  to  adopt 
the  monk's  habit  again ;  but  when  he  died  without 
having  done  so,  he  adopted  and  looked  after  his 
two  orphan  daughters,  whom  he  styled  dulcissimae 
filiae. 

His  father's  three  sisters  had  all  taken  vows,  and 
he  accordingly  took  a  keen  interest  in  the  discipline 
of  female  communities,  and  he  sustained  by  the 
doles  and  generosity  of  the  Church  3000  nuns  who 
had  taken  refuge  in  Rome  from  their  ruined  convents. 
He  made  an  excellent  rule  that  the  abbesses  chosen 
by  the  communities  should  be  at  least  sixty  years 
old,  thus  following  up  the  regulation  of  Leo  the 
First,  which  was  in  conformity  with  the  decrees  of 
several  councils  and  was  confirmed  by  a  law  of  the 
Emperor  Majorian  passed  in  458.  He  further  in- 
sisted that  nuns  should  not  receive  the  veil  and  the 
solemn  benediction,  nor  should  their  noviciate  end 
until  their  fortieth  year.  The  breach  of  this  rule, 
and  the  pernicious  and  morbid  argument  that  young 
girls  should  be  encouraged  to  dedicate  their  virginity 
to  God  by  which  it  was  sustained,  was  the  cause  of 
infinite  mischief  and  scandal  in  later  centuries. 

He  was  most  sensible  in  deeming  the  con- 
templative life  unsuited  for  many  temperaments  and 
for  unquiet  and  restless  souls,  and  he  held  that  no 
one  should  become  a  monk  who  had  not  first  tried 
an  active  life  and  tested  his  own  capacity  and  tastes. 
He  thus  enlarged  the  noviciate  to  two  years,  St. 


86  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

Benedict  having  prescribed  one  only.  It  was  only 
after  a  trial  of  two  years  that  the  lay  dress  was  to  be 
discarded  and  the  tonsure  given  ;  and  he  enjoined  a 
married  man  who  had  left  his  wife  to  join  a  monastery 
in  Sicily  to  return  to  her,  which  was  another  salutary 
dictate  of  good  sense,  since,  if  the  practice  had 
become  general,  it  would  have  been  an  easy  and 
demoralising  form  of  divorce. 

Gregory  was  a  determined  foe  to  monks  owning 
private  property  ("peculiarity,"  as  it  was  called)  and 
therefore  to  their  making  wills.  Those  who  wished 
for  private  property,  he  declared,  had  not  the  hearts 
of  monks.  On  this  rule  being  rigidly  enforced  in 
the  economy  of  a  monastery  he  was  inexorable. 
We  have  a  grim  proof  in  a  story  told  at  this  time 
of  a  monk  named  Justus,  who  had  attended  Gregory 
when  he  was  ill,  and  had  now  himself  to  take  to 
his  bed.  The  latter  confessed  to  his  own  brother 
Copiosus,  who  was  also  a  monk,  that  in  making  a 
sacrifice  of  his  worldly  goods  he  had  retained  three 
gold  pieces.  Gregory  having  heard  of  this,  ordered 
the  Prior  Pretiosus  to  forbid  any  of  the  other 
monks  attending  to  him,  commanded  that  when 
he  died  his  body  should  be  thrown  upon  a  dunghill, 
and  that  the  three  gold  pieces  should  be  thrown 
into  his  grave  with  him,  while  they  chanted,  "  Let 
thy  gold  perish  with  thee."  This  came  about,  but 
presently  Gregory's  heart  seems  somewhat  to  have 
melted,  and  after  conferring  with  Pretiosus,  he 
declared  that  the  erring  monk  had  been  long  enough 
in  the  flames,  and  he  ordered  thirty  continuous  Masses 


SAINT  GREGORY'S  MONASTIC  DISCIPLINE     87 

to  be  said  for  his  release.  We  read  that  the  sinner 
afterwards  appeared  to  Copiosus  and  told  him  that 
he  had  now  been  admitted  to  heaven.1  These  ex- 
piatory Masses  were  afterwards  known  as  Gregorian 

Masses. 

1  Dialogues,  vi.  55. 


CHAPTER   IV 

HAVING  largely  forestalled  our  story  in  order  to 
bring  under  one  view  the  Pope's  management  and 
regulation  of  the  clergy,  secular  and  regular,  over 
whom  he  presided,  let  us  now  revert  again  to  his 
doings  after  he  became  Pope. 

In  order  to  understand  his  political  position  at 
this  date  it  will  be  convenient  to  glance  shortly  at 
the  administration  of  that  part  of  Italy  subject  to 
the  Empire  at  this  time — a  time  of  transition,  when 
recent  administrative  changes  had  much  altered  it. 
I  have  condensed  Mr.  Dudden's  admirable  account  of 
the  subject  so  far  as  it  refers  to  the  principal  officials. 

The  highest  official  in  the  land,  and  the  vicegerent 
of  the  Emperor,  was  the  Exarch,  a  title  first  applied 
by  Pope  Pelagius  the  Second  among  Western 
writers,1  and  first  used  in  its  true  sense  by  Smarag- 
dus  (585-589),  whose  predecessor,  Longinus,  had 
been  merely  called  Praefectus  Ravennae.  He  was 
styled  "The  Most  Excellent  Exarch,"  and  also 
"  Patrician,"  and  was  at  the  head  of  the  civil  ser- 
vice as  well  as  of  the  army  in  Italy,  and  seems  to 
have  appointed  all  the  civil  and  military  officers  there. 
"He  could  make  peace  or  war  on  his  own  initiative, 
while  the  judicature  and  the  finance  were  under 

1  Labbe  Cone.  v.  938. 

88 


THE  EXARCH  OF  RAVENNA  89 

his  control."  The  power  of  this  Byzantine  Satrap 
was  therefore  virtually  supreme  wherever  the 
Imperial  rule  was  obeyed  in  Italy.  He  lived  at 
Ravenna,  where  he  held  a  replica  of  the  Court  of 
Byzantium  in  miniature,  with  a  similar  ceremonial, 
in  which  he  was  treated  with  the  abject  servility 
which  the  West  had  learnt  from  the  East ;  even  the 
highest  dignitaries  prostrating  themselves  on  his 
approach,  and  addressing  him  in  the  most  fulsome 
terms.  When  he  entered  a  city  the  bishop  and 
foremost  citizens  came  out  to  meet  and  escort  him 
with  all  the  humility  shown  at  Eastern  courts. 

This  new  dignitary  had  largely  superseded  the 
Prsetorian  prefect,  who  had  formerly  controlled  the 
civil  administration  of  Italy  and  been  the  chief 
official  of  the  Empire  after  the  Emperor,  but  who  had 
had  no  military  functions.  He  was  still,  however, 
a  great  personage,  wearing  a  purple  robe,  using  a 
silver  inkstand,  a  gold  pencase,  and  riding  in  a 
stately  car.  He  still  (subject  to  the  Exarch)  con- 
trolled the  finances  of  Italy — the  collection  of  taxes, 
the  payment  of  salaries,  the  commissariat  of  the 
troops,  etc. — though  he  no  longer  had  legislative 
powers.  He  also  retained  a  large  judicial  authority. 
He  ranked  next  to  the  Exarch,  was  styled  "  Most 
Excellent "  and  "Most  Eminent,"  lived  at  Classis, 
near  Ravenna,  where  he  had  a  large  staff  of 
functionaries,  exercised  a  wide  patronage,  and  tried 
and  punished  evil-doers  among  the  officials. 

The  Praefect  of  the  City,  who  was  styled  Most 
Illustrious,  Glorious,  and  Magnificent,  and  whose 


90  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

post  had  once  been  filled  by  Gregory  himself,  still 
retained,  in  the  earlier  part  of  the  latter's  popedom, 
the  control  of  the  administration  within  the  walls, 
presided  over  the  meetings  of  citizens,  and  helped  the 
Pope  in  supplying  the  city  with  grain  and  the  military 
officers  in  concerting  plans  of  defence.  His  office 
was  rapidly  decaying,  however,  and  he  is  last  heard 
of  in  the  year  599,  and  is  not  named  again  for  two 
centuries.  "He  had,  in  fact,"  as  Mr.  Dudden  says, 
"  become  little  more  than  a  dignified  minister  of 
police  with  a  criminal  jurisdiction." 

It  is  doubtful  whether  the  two  subordinates  of 
the  ancient  Praetorian  prefects,  namely,  the  Vicars, 
one  of  whom,  the  Vicarius  Urbis,  had  jurisdiction 
over  Central  and  Southern  Italy,  with  his  seat 
at  Rome,  and  the  other  over  the  seven  northern 
provinces,  with  his  seat  at  Genoa,  still  existed.  If 
they  did  so,  they  had  become  quite  unimportant  and 
dealt  entirely  with  financial  matters. 

The  Governors  of  provinces  (styled  Judices 
Provinciarum  in  the  time  of  Justinian)  still  existed, 
but  with  much  curtailed  functions,  which  were  purely 
judicial,  and  had  been  encroached  upon  by  the 
bishops  and  the  practice  of  settling  disputes  by 
arbitration.  They  cease  to  be  mentioned  in  the 
beginning  of  the  seventh  century.  Such  were  the 
principal  officials  responsible  for  the  civil  adminis- 
tration of  Italy  at  this  time. 

A  few  words  must  now  be  said  about  the  military 
officials.  At  their  head  was  the  Exarch  above 
named,  under  whom  were  the  Duces  and  the 


THE  MILITARY  ORGANISATION  OF  ITALY     91 

Magistri  Militum,  or  Generals,  who  differed,  in  that 
the  former  also  exercised  civil  functions  in  a  de- 
fined area,  the  latter  were  military  officers  pure  and 
simple.  While  a  single  district  could  only  have 
one  Dux  it  might  have  several  Magistri.  In  his 
letters,1  Gregory  mentions  four  of  the  latter  officers  in 
the  district  of  Rome.  The  titles  and  functions  were, 
however,  not  always  logically  distinguished,  and  were 
frequently  confused.  The  Dux  was  supreme  within 
his  district  and  was  a  kind  of  minor  Exarch,  and 
tended  more  and  more  to  become  independent  of  his 
master  at  Ravenna  ;  he  controlled  the  civil  officers, 
dispensed  justice,  managed  the  finance,  and  some- 
times interfered  in  ecclesiastical  matters.  He  had  his 
chartulary,  notary,  major-domus,  and  other  officials.2 

Below  the  Duces  and  Magistri  Militum  were  the 
Tribunes,  otherwise  called  Comites  or  Counts.  They 
were  military  officers  with  civil  functions,  and 
appointed  by  the  Exarch  to  take  charge  of  and  ad- 
minister a  single  town.  On  one  occasion  we  find 
Gregory  sending  a  Tribune  to  take  charge  of  Naples.3 

As  we  have  seen,  the  Senate,  in  the  old  sense  of 
the  word,  had  at  this  time  ceased  to  exist.  It  had 
indeed  been  destroyed  by  the  terrible  slaughters  of 
the  Gothic  wars.  The  remnant  of  its  members  who 
remained,  reconstituted  themselves  as  "the  Senatus 
Romanus,"  and  were  assigned  by  Justinian  the  very 
meagre  role  of  superintending  weights  and  measures. 

1  E.  and  H.  ii.  32,  33. 

2  In  his  letters  Gregory  mentions  the  Dukes  of  Sardinia,  Ariminum, 
Campania,  and  Neapolis  ;  see  Gregorovius,  op.  cit.  i.  393,  note  14. 

8  Ib.  ii.  34. 


92  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

Certain  Roman  senators  are  said  to  have  been  sent 
on  an  embassy  to  Constantinople  in  579.  After  this 
the  senate  is  not  mentioned  again  till  757,  when  we 
find  the  name  was  used  merely  as  a  title  of  honour 
by  the  Roman  magnates,  and  it  would  seem  that  the 
institution  itself  had  ceased  to  exist.  Meanwhile 
the  municipal  institutions  of  the  provincial  towns 
(curiae)  continued  to  live  for  some  time  longer,  but 
subject  to  crushing  taxes. 

It  is  clear  that  while  the  civil  officials  of  the  old 
Empire  still  existed  it  was  as  shadows  of  their  former 
selves,  and  that,  as  Mr.  Dudden  says,  the  real  forces 
of  the  Empire  were  the  Army  and  the  Church, 
while  whole  parts  of  the  country  were  governed  by 
martial  law,  which  was  inevitable  in  the  face  of  the 
repeated  invasions  of  the  barbarians.1 

Let  us  now  revert  to  Gregory  and  his  doings  as 
Pope. 

Gregory  was  still  a  deacon  when  elected  Pope. 
The  messenger  who  had  been  sent  to  Rome  by 
Gregory  of  Tours  for  some  relics  received  them  from 
the  hands  of  the  Pope  while  still  a  deacon.2  It  was,  in 
fact,  a  not  unusual  practice  at  this  period  to  advance 
deserving  deacons  at  one  step  to  the  rank  of  bishop.3 

On  his  election  Gregory  duly  sent  synodical 
letters  to  inform  the  other  patriarchs  of  the  fact 
These  were  addressed  to  John  of  Constantinople, 
Eulogius  of  Alexandria,  Gregory  of  Antioch,  John 
of  Jerusalem,  and,  lastly,  to  Anastasius,  ex-Patriarch 

1  Dudden,  i.  176-186.  8  Greg,  of  Tours,  lib.  x.  i. 

3  E.  and  H.  iii.  29,  39,  46  ;  x.  13. 


SEVENFOLD  LITANY  AND  THE  PLAGUE     93 

of  Antioch,  who  had  been  illegally  deposed  from  his 
office  by  the  Emperor  Justin  in  570,  but  was  after- 
wards restored  by  the  Emperor  Maurice.  In  these 
letters  he  styles  each  of  the  other  patriarchs  Most 
holy  brother  (f rater  sanctissimus],  and  claims  no  kind 
of  superiority  over  them.  In  them  he  also  makes 
his  confession,  in  which  he  claims  to  receive  the 
four  Gospels  and  the  four  first  councils,  to  which 
he  parenthetically  adds  "the  fifth,"  i.e.  that  held  at 
Constantinople  in  553  A. D.,  which  he  says  he  equally 
venerates,  pariter  veneror}- 

The  plague  already  mentioned  was  still  raging 
when  he  was  elected.  Gregory  of  Tours,  who  was 
writing  at  the  time,  and  whose  information  came 
from  his  own  agent  (an  eye-witness),  reports  the 
address  which  the  newly  elected  Pope  made  in  the 
Lateran  Basilica  to  the  people  of  Rome,  whom  he 
styled  "  his  very  dear  brothers,"  offering  them  con- 
solation and  advice.  In  view  of  the  terrible  calamity 
of  the  plague  he  further  prescribed  that  at  daylight 
on  the  following  Wednesday  (traditionally  said  to 
have  been  the  25th  of  April)2  they  should  organise 
an  imposing  ceremony.  They  were  to  assemble  in 
seven  bodies  and  repeat  a  sevenfold  litany.  All  the 
clergy  were  to  set  out  with  the  priests  of  the  sixth 
region  from  the  Church  of  SS.  Cosmas  and  Damian, 
while  all  the  abbots  and  monks  were  to  set  out  from 
the  Church  of  the  Martyrs  SS.  Gervasius  and  Pro- 
tasius,  with  the  priests  of  the  fourth  region.  All  the 
abbesses  with  their  nuns  were  to  set  forth  from  the 

1  E.  and  H.  i.  24  ;  Barmby,  i.  25.  2  Dudden,  i.  219. 


94  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

Church  of  SS.  Marcellinus  and  Peter,  the  Martyrs, 
with  the  priests  of  the  first  region.  All  the  children 
were  to  issue  from  the  Church  of  the  Martyrs  John 
and  Paul,  with  the  priests  of  the  second  region.  The 
laity  were  to  set  out  from  the  Church  of  St.  Stephen, 
with  the  priests  of  the  seventh  region  ;  the  widows 
from  the  Church  of  St.  Euphemia,  with  the  priests  of 
the  fifth  region  ;  and  all  the  married  women  from  the 
Church  of  St.  Clement,  with  the  priests  of  the  third 
region.  They  should  then  all  march  together  with 
prayers  and  tears  to  the  Basilica  of  the  Virgin  Mary 
(i.e.  S.  Maria  Maggiore),  where  the  Pope  would 
again  address  them,  and  they  should  there  implore 
the  Almighty's  forgiveness  for  their  sins.  In  the 
"  Legenda  Aurea"  it  is  said  that  in  this  procession 
Gregory  carried  the  famous  picture  of  the  Virgin 
which  had  been  painted  by  St.  Luke,1  and  when  the 
plague  at  length  ceased,  a  voice  was  heard  above 
the  picture  singing,  "  Regina  coeli  laetare"  etc. ;  to 
which  Gregory  added,  "  Or  a  pro  nobis,  Deum  roga- 
mus,  alleluia"  Gregory  also  summoned  the  clergy 
together  and  ordered  them  to  chant  the  Psalms 
and  implore  the  pity  of  the  Saviour  during  three 
days.  Every  three  hours  the  choirs  were  to  chant 
the  Psalms  and  traverse  the  streets  singing  the 
Kyrie  eleison.  "  Our  deacon,"  says  Gregory  of 
Tours,  "  was  present  and  assured  us  that  while  the 
people  thus  raised  their  voices  in  supplication  eighty 
of  them  fell  dead  in  the  course  of  an  hour  "  (i.e.  from 

1  The  pictures  still  in  the  churches  of  Ara  Coeli  and  S.  Maria 
Maggiore  both  claim  to  be  that  carried  by  the  Pope  (Hare's  Walks 
in  Rome,  ii.  226,  note  2). 


SAINT  GREGORY  AND  THE  EMPIRE       95 

the  plague).  Assuredly  no  ecclesiastical  function  in 
history  is  more  full  of  tragic  pathos  than  this  famous 
procession.  It  is  still  commemorated  by  the  great 
Rogation  service  on  St.  Mark's  Day,  i.e.  the  25th 
of  April. 

It  is  from  this  time  that  there  comes  to  us  the 
beautiful  legend  of  the  angel  who  is  said  to  have  been 
seen  by  Gregory  standing  on  the  Mausoleum  of 
Hadrian  (thence  afterwards  called  the  Castle  of  St. 
Angelo),  with  his  drawn  sword,  which  he  was  seen  to 
sheathe  as  the  plague  abated.  For  many  centuries 
the  figure  of  a  gilded  angel  has  stood  on  that  tomb. 
Four  of  these  angels  have  at  different  times  been 
destroyed,  and  the  present  one  is  the  fifth.  It  is 
bronze  gilt,  and  was  put  up  in  the  reign  of  Pope 
Benedict  the  Fourteenth.  Gregorovius  suggests 
that  the  legend  probably  arose  from  some  statue, 
probably  of  a  winged  genius,  which  originally  stood 
on  the  Mausoleum.  An  altar,  now  in  the  Capitoline 
Museum,  bearing  the  representation  of  two  foot- 
prints, formerly  in  the  Church  of  Ara  Cceli,  was  once 
popularly  deemed  to  preserve  the  footprints  of  the 
angel  seen  by  Gregory.1 

The  Pope  having,  as  it  was  thought,  cured  the 
pestilence,  now  made  arrangements  to  mitigate  the 
famine  which  was  impending  in  Italy,  by  the  im- 
portation of  grain  from  Africa  and  Sicily,  which 
still  remained  subject  to  the  Empire,  and  were  rich 
and  prosperous,  and  in  both  of  which  the  Church 
had  rich  possessions.  To  face  plague  and  famine 

1  Dudden,  i.  220. 


96  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

with  such  resources  as  were  available  was  more 
easy,  no  doubt,  to  the  quondam  Prsefect  of  the  City 
than  to  steer  through  the  political  entanglements. 

Italy  then  nominally  belonged  to  the  emperors 
as  Ireland  belonged  to  the  Plantagenet  kings. 
Their  real  authority  was  limited  to  the  Exarchate 
of  Ravenna  and  its  dependencies,  as  that  of  the 
English  kings  was  to  "the  Pale."  The  emperors  had 
little  or  no  interest  in  a  depressing  land,  of  whose 
miseries  and  complaints  they  chiefly  heard,  whose 
language  they  hardly  knew,  and  whose  ancient 
glory  was  no  part  of  their  real  inheritance.  They 
held  on  to  the  Exarchate  just  as  the  English  kings 
held  on  to  Calais  as  a  fragment  of  a  lost  empire 
and  as  a  source  of  revenue,  and  its  successive 
governors,  like  the  mediaeval  Lords- Lieutenant  of 
Ireland,  were  mostly  undesirable  people,  whose  exac- 
tions and  treacheries  were  only  matched  by  those  of 
the  Spanish  viceroys  in  the  New  World.  Each  one 
looked  on  his  appointment  as  an  exile,  and  hardly 
one  was  a  person  of  any  capacity  or  public  virtue. 

Let  us  now  try  for  a  moment  to  realise  the  con- 
dition of  Rome  itself,  and  of  its  inhabitants,  where 
the  Pope's  most  important  functions  and  power  were 
exercised,  and  in  the  midst  of  which  he  passed 
his  days.  It  is  almost  impossible  to  describe  the 
woeful  condition  to  which  the  magnificent  capital  of 
Augustus  and  Hadrian  had  been  reduced. 

"  Everywhere,"  in  the  eloquent  words  of  Mr. 
Dudden,  "the  eye  was  met  by  the  melancholy 
magnificence  of  great  works  sinking  into  unregarded 


STATE  OF  ROME  IN  ST.  GREGORY'S  TIME      97 

ruin.  The  theatres  were  falling  in  pieces,  the  baths 
were  dry  and  waterless,  the  temples  were  closed. 
In  the  open  spaces  of  the  city  the  weeds  grew  freely, 
the  gardens  and  pleasure-grounds  were  choked  with 
rubbish,  and  the  grass  was  pushing  through  the 
broken  pavements  of  the  streets.  On  account  of  the 
destruction  of  the  aqueducts  and  the  consequent 
difficulty  of  getting  water,  the  higher  and  more 
salubrious  quarters  of  the  city  were  deserted ;  and 
the  vast  private  palaces  of  the  nobles — so  huge  that 
it  was  remarked  of  them,  '  a  single  house  is  a  city (1 — 
were  empty  and  silent.  The  sumptuous  shops, 
which  had  once  been  the  pride  of  the  luxury-loving 
Romans,  were  mostly  closed.  No  libraries  re- 
mained, save  in  a  few  churches.  The  'mighty 
nation  of  statues '  (populus  copiasissimus  statuarum}? 
which  in  prodigious  numbers  had  once  decorated  the 
buildings  and  piazzas  of  Rome,  and  which  even  the 
Christian  Prudentius  had  characterised  as  the  noblest 
ornaments  of  our  fatherland,  were  many  of  them 
broken  or  removed,  or  lay  neglected  at  the  foot  of  their 
pedestals,  with  no  one  to  restore  them  into  place. 
The  city,  in  short,  was  a  city  of  death  ;  and  Gregory 
might  well  have  anticipated  Montaigne's  remark 
that  there  is  nothing  left  of  Rome  but  its  grave. 
"  The  appearance  of  the  people  was  in  keeping 
with  the  aspect  of  their  city.  There  was  no  longer 
either  wealth  or  talent  left  in  Rome.  The  brilliant 
society  so  vigorously  depicted  by  writers  like  Jerome 
and  Ammianus  Marcellinus  had  vanished  utterly, 

1  Olympic/dams^  ed.  Bonn,  p.  469.  2  Cassiod.  vol.  vii.  13. 

7 


98  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

The  Epicursean  millionaires,  the  high-born  matrons 
surrounded  with  troops  of  sycophants  and  gossips, 
the  men  of  pleasure,  the  supple,  scandal-purveying 
churchmen,  the  mercenary  advocates,  the  light- 
hearted,  pampered  populace, — all  these  were  seen  no 
more.  That  self-indulgent,  frivolous  life  had  burnt 
quite  out.  Of  the  Romans  of  the  sixth  century, 
survivors  of  the  Gothic  War,  all  who  were  swayed 
by  pleasure  or  ambition,  all  who  cared  for  the 
splendour  of  the  Court  or  for  the  society  of  the 
learned,  or  for  opportunities  of  gaining  distinction 
and  of  making  money,  had  taken  their  departure  to 
the  New  Rome  on  the  Bosphorus,  or  had  joined  the 
Court  of  the  Patrician  at  Ravenna.  The  very  few 
who  remained  in  Rome  were  for  the  most  part  little 
better  than  beggars,1  living  miserably  in  corners  of 
the  great  ruinous  mansions  which  they  had  no  longer 
the  means  of  keeping  up,  or  huddled  together  in 
tenements  in  the  lower  quarters  of  the  city,  where 
they  fell  a  prey  to  the  malaria  which  was  engendered 
from  the  swamps  caused  by  the  destruction  of  the 
aqueducts.  The  whole  population,  estimated  in  the 
time  of  Augustus  at  about  a  million,  cannot  in  these 
days  have  exceeded  forty  thousand  souls.  And  these 
were  all  that  were  left  in  a  city  which,  besides  in- 
numerable public  buildings,  contained  nearly  eighteen 
hundred  palaces  for  the  wealthy  and  more  than  forty- 
six  thousand  lodging-houses  for  those  less  well-to-do. 

1  "  Tanta  egestas  et  nuditas"  says  Pope  Pelagius  in  one  of  his 
letters,  "  in  civitate  ista  est,  ut  sine  dolore  et  angustia  cordis  nostri 
homines,  quos  honesto  loco  natos  idoneos  noveramus,  non  possimus 
adspicere"  (Ep.  14  ;  Migne,  Pat.  Lat.  Ixix.  408). 


STATE  OF  ROME  ABOUT  600  99 

"  Everything  in  the  place  was  stagnant.  Civil 
life  was  hopelessly  dislocated.  Political  activity 
there  was  none.  .  .  .  There  was  no  commerce  or 
manufacture  to  restore  prosperity.  Learning  had 
departed  in  the  train  of  Wealth.  Agriculture,  which 
had  revived  under  the  rule  of  Theodoric,  was 
utterly  decayed.  The  Campagna,  which  once  pre- 
sented the  appearance  of '  a  great  park,  studded  with 
villages,  farms,  lordly  residences,  temples,  fountains, 
and  tombs,'  was  now  a  dangerous  and  pestilential 
wilderness,  and  nothing  but  the  lines  of  broken  aque- 
ducts and  the  charred  ruins  of  villas  and  country  houses 
bore  witness  to  the  life  that  had  once  flourished  there. " l 

It  will  be  interesting  to  recall  a  striking  instance 
of  the  migration  of  the  upper  classes  to  Constanti- 
nople at  this  time.  It  may  be  illustrated  by  the 
correspondence  of  Gregory  with  an  aristocratic  lady 
called  Rusticiana,  to  whom  the  Pope  wrote  five 
letters.  She  was  very  rich,  and  Gregory  rebukes 
her  for  forsaking  her  old  home  at  Rome  and  migrat- 
ing to  Constantinople,  and  tries  to  persuade  her  to 
return.  To  this  second  migration  she  was  not  at  all 
sympathetic,  and  she  consoled  her  conscience  with 
a  pilgrimage  to  Mount  Sinai  and  by  sending  the 
Pope  some  donations,  including  ten  pounds  of  gold 
for  the  redemption  of  slaves,  and  certain  hangings 
for  the  decoration  of  the  Church  of  St.  Peter.  It 
seems  she  had  written  to  ask  that  these  hangings 
or  draperies  might  be  taken  to  St.  Peter's  Church 

1  Dudden,  op.  cit.  i.  50-52.  I  have  taken  the  liberty  of  quoting 
this  fine  and  picturesque  description  of  Rome  as  it  was  in  the  days  of 
Gregory,  which  I  think  could  not  be  improved. 


ioo  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

with  a  procession  of  clergy  singing  a  litany.  Gregory 
says  this  was  not  done,  because  the  instruction 
reached  him  after  the  hangings  ;  but  Symmachus 
("  the  magnificent  lord,"  as  he  styles  him),  with  those 
of  her  household,  had  been  able  to  do  otherwise 
what  she  had  desired  should  be  done  by  the  priests 
in  procession.  These  hangings  were  for  the  shrine 
of  St.  Peter.  Gregory  calls  her  "  Our  glorious 
daughter  "  and  also  "  Patricia." l 

The  then  condition  of  the  ancient  metropolis  of  the 
world,  as  here  pictured,  has  inspired  one  of  Gibbons' 
most  magnificent  sentences :  "  The  lofty  tree,"  he 
says,  "  under  whose  shade  the  nations  of  the  earth 
had  reposed,  was  deprived  of  its  leaves  and  branches, 
and  the  sapless  trunk  was  left  to  wither  on  the 
ground."  These  were  the  conditions  under  which 
Gregory  had  to  begin  his  work.  He  was  crippled 
by  the  hapless  and  hesitating  policy  of  the  emperors. 
Their  courtiers  were  doubtless  jealous  of  the  re- 
sourceful Bishop  who  represented  authority  on  the 
Tiber  and  who  dared  to  undertake  responsibilities, 
and  they  were  always  ready  to  humiliate  him.  On 
the  other  hand  was  the  continual  danger  of  an  attack 
from  the  Lombards,  "  whose  only  law,"  he  plaintively 
tells  us,  "was  the  sword. "  There  was  a  never-ending 
struggle  between  these  vigorous  northern  warriors 
and  the  soldiery  commanded  by  the  Exarch,  and 
between  the  two  the  position  of  Rome  and  its  de- 
pendencies was  sometimes  desperate. 

"  I  was  obliged,"  Gregory  wrote  to  the  Emperor, 

1 E.  and  H.  xi.  26  ;  Barmby,  xi.  40  ;  Gregorovius,  5.  p.  395,  note  27. 


SAINT  GREGORY  AND  THE  LOMBARDS   101 

"to  see  with  my  own  eyes  the  Romans  led  into 
Francia  with  ropes  round  their  necks  like  dogs  to  be 
sold  in  the  market."  The  Pope  himself  provided 
what  was  most  urgent,  wrote  to  the  military  leaders 
to  encourage  them  in  resistance,  pointed  out  to  the 
soldiers  assembled  at  Naples  the  chief  whom  they 
should  follow,  fed  the  people,  and  paid  the  troops 
their  wages  and  the  barbarians  their  contributions 
of  war,  all  at  the  expense  of  the  ecclesiastical  treasury. 
"  The  Emperor,"  he  wrote  to  the  Empress,  "has  a 
treasure  for  his  troops  at  Ravenna,  but  as  for  me,  I 
am  the  treasurer  of  the  Lombards  at  Rome." 

As  I  have  said,  the  kingdom  of  the  Lombards 
in  the  north  was  separated  from  the  aggressive 
duchy  of  Spoleto  in  Central  Italy  by  a  long 
strip  of  territory,  through  which  there  passed 
a  branch  of  the  Flaminian  Way  called  the  Via 
Anina  or  Amerina,1  and  along  which  were  the  towns 
of  Sutrium,  Polimartium,  Horta,  Tuder,  Ameria, 
Perugia,  Lucerola,  etc.  The  possession  of  this 
strip  of  country  was  most  important  strategically 
for  the  Romans  ;  not  only  did  it  separate  their  mortal 
foes,  but  it  was  the  only  way,  in  Roman  hands,  by 
which  Rome  and  Ravenna  could  communicate. 

In  the  earlier  part  of  592,  Arnulf,  Duke  of  Spoleto, 
continued  the  desultory  war  against  the  Roman 
province,  the  strength  of  whose  scanty  garrisons  had 
been  so  much  sapped  by  the  recent  pestilence  and 
famine,  and  captured  the  towns  on  the  Flaminian 
Way  already  named.  He  then  advanced  on  Rome 

1  See  Lib.  Pont.  i.  p.  312  and  notes. 


102  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

itself.  The  Pope  defended  the  place  with  such 
resources  as  he  had,  but  feeling  the  struggle  to  be 
hopeless  without  some  Imperial  aid,  he  determined  to 
make  a  peace  or  truce  with  Arnulf,  which  meant,  no 
doubt,  a  large  payment  out  of  the  papal  exchequer. 

He  hardly  realised,  perhaps,  how  perilous  such  a 
peace  was  for  the  Empire,  since  it  left  the  recently 
captured  towns  in  the  hands  of  a  persistent  enemy. 
The  Exarch  and  his  officials  were  naturally  exasper- 
ated with  Gregory,  and,  repudiating  his  treaty,  marched 
along  the  Flaminian  Way,  recapturing  the  towns,  and 
approached  Rome,  which  they  entered  with  their 
forces,  and  there  was  probably  an  uncomfortable 
quarter  of  an  hour  between  the  Exarch  and  the  Pope. 

Agilulf,  Duke  of  Turin,  who  became  King  of  the 
Lombards  in  the  year  of  Gregory's  accession  to  the 
Papacy,  married  the  beautiful  Bavarian  princess, 
Theodelinda,  the  widow  of  the  late  Lombard  King, 
Antharis,  and  thus  secured  the  throne.  He  was 
aroused  to  fury  by  the  recapture  of  the  towns  on  the 
Flaminian  Way  and  the  alleged  breach  of  the  treaty 
which  Arnulf  had  made  with  Gregory.  He  marched 
south,  recaptured  the  towns,  and  laid  siege  to  Rome. 

It  would  hardly  be  possible  to  match  the  pathos 
of  Gregory's  letters  and  sermons  at  this  time,  when 
it  was  his  cruel  fate  to  watch,  as  he  tells  us,  "  over 
these  crumbling  walls,  these  overthrown  palaces, 
these  buildings  worn  out  with  old  age." 

While  the  Lombards  were  attacking  the  city  he 
was  engaged  in  preaching  a  series  of  forty-two  homi- 
lies on  the  prophecies  and  visions  of  Ezekiel,  a  very 


SAINT  GREGORY  AND  THE  LOMBARDS      103 

favourite  book  with  the  mystics  of  the  cloister,  who 
themselves  constantly  saw  visions.  These  homilies 
are  still  extant.  In  one  of  them  he  complains  of  the 
obscurity  of  the  text,  and  then  tells  us  he  had  heard 
that  King  Agilulf  had  crossed  the  Po,  intending 
to  attack,  and  asks  :  "How  can  a  poor  soul  thus 
troubled  and  distracted  penetrate  into  such  mys- 
teries?"1 In  another  homily  he  says:  "Let  no 
man  blame  me  if  I  put  an  end  to  this  discourse. 
You  all  perceive  how  our  tribulations  increase.  The 
sword  and  death  are  everywhere.  Some  return  to 
us  with  their  hands  cut  off,  with  the  news  that  others 
are  taken  or  killed.  I  must  be  silent  because  my 
soul  is  weary  of  life."  As  a  matter  of  fact,  Agilulf, 
who  devastated  the  Campagna  and  the  country 
round,  did  not  proceed  to  capture  the  city,  which 
was  thus  spared  a  repetition  of  the  previous  sackings 
by  Alaric,  Genseric,  and  Totila.  This  lucky  exemp- 
tion was  doubtless  due  to  several  causes — the  dangers 
of  the  Campagna  fever  and  a  possible  diversion  by 
the  Exarch  ;  perhaps,  also,  to  Gregory's  negotiations 
with  Agilulf  s  wife,  Theodelinda,  who  had  acquired 
a  great  influence  over  the  Lombards.  Although  a 
Bavarian  princess,  she  was  descended  from  the  old 
Lombard  kings  on  her  mother's  side.  She  was 
orthodox  and  thus  befriended  the  Pope,  whose  faith- 
ful friend  she  became,  and  it  was  probably  by  her 
intervention  that  when  war  was  presently  renewed 
between  her  husband  and  the  Exarch,  Gregory  was 
enabled  to  obtain  a  special  truce  for  Rome  and  its 

1  Vide  Horn.  18. 


104  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

surrounding  territory,  no  doubt  by  the  payment 
of  a  large  sum.  Thus  did  the  Pope,  in  spite  of 
Emperor  or  Exarch,  by  his  own  tact  and  skill  secure 
for  Italy  a  great  material  success. 

This  phase  of  Gregory's  public  life  has  been,  I 
think,  misunderstood  by  some  of  his  recent  biog- 
raphers. They  speak  of  his  continually  enlarging 
the  power  of  the  Pope  by  acting  ultra  vires.  We 
can  find  no  complaint  of  this  among  his  contempor- 
aries, except  in  the  single  instance  of  his  making 
peace  with  the  Lombard  Duke  of  Spoleto  without  the 
knowledge  or  concurrence  of  the  Emperor.  The 
fact  is,  Gregory  was  neither  an  ordinary  Pope  nor 
an  ordinary  ecclesiastic.  He  had  filled  one  of  the 
most  dignified  offices  which  the  Emperor  had  in 
his  gift,  that  of  Prsefect.  He  had  been  a  man  of 
great  wealth,  he  had  been  an  ambassador  at  Con- 
stantinople for  many  years,  and  he  had  as  manager 
of  the  Papal  Patrimony  shown  what  a  great  man  of 
affairs  he  was.  No  wonder  that  in  these  terrible 
times,  when  Italy  was  broken  up  into  a  patchwork 
of  communities,  and  those  belonging  to  the  Emperor 
were  often  far  away  and  difficult  to  administer, 
the  services  of  the  great  Pope  should  have  been 
gladly  welcomed  in  supplementing  the  secular  re- 
sources of  the  Crown  by  being  permitted  to  make 
appointments  and  to  conduct  the  local  administra- 
tion which  in  other  times  and  under  other  conditions 
would  have  been  hardly  possible. 

It  was    thus  he  was  able  to  appoint  Leontius 
as  military  governor  of  a  town  in  Etruria  which  was 


SAINT  GREGORY  AND  THE  LOMBARDS      105 

in  a  particularly  forlorn  condition,  namely,  Narnia, 
30  miles  from  Rome.1  More  especially,  however, 
were  his  services  needed  in  the  south  (which  was  so 
far  from  Ravenna),  and,  having  heard  that  Arichis, 
the  Duke  of  Beneventum,  was  contemplating  an 
attack  on  Naples,  he  did  not  hesitate  to  nominate  a 
Tribune  named  Constantius  to  take  command  of 
the  city  and  to  order  the  garrison  to  obey  him  (uti 
praedicto  magnifico  viro  tribune ;  sicut  et  fecistis, 
omnem  debeatis  pro  serenissimorum  dominorum 
utilitate  vel  conservanda  civitate  obedientiam 
exhibere]? 

While  we  approve  and  admire  the  Pope's  energy 
and  administrative  skill,  we  must  not  disguise 
the  risks  he  had  run  in  the  process,  nor  that  in 
his  anxiety  to  save  Rome  he  had  left  the  Italian 
dominions  of  the  Emperor  in  a  perilous  position 
by  conceding  to  the  Lombards  the  possession  of 
the  key  of  the  whole  position  at  Perugia.  No  wonder 
the  Emperor  wrote  him  stinging  letters,  in  which 
he  spoke  of  his  simplicity  and  artlessness  in  the 
presence  of  the  artful  astuteness  of  the  Lombards. 
In  his  reply,  which  was  assuredly  a  form  of  letter 
seldom  written  to  and  still  less  seldom  tolerated  by 
an  Emperor,  the  Pope  does  not  spare  his  phrases  and 
speaks  with  great  bitterness,  and  especially  resents 
the  term  "fatuus  "  as  applied  to  himself.  "Nam  in 
eis  urbano  simplicitatis  vocabulo  mefatuum  appellat" 
he  says.  He  acknowledges  that  he  had  indeed  been 
simple  to  allow  himself  to  be  put  in  such  a  situation 

1  E.  and  £?.  ii.  33,  and  note  3.  2  Ib.  ii.  34. 


106  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

— quod  ita  esse  ego  quoque  ipse  confiteor.  He  goes  on 
to  speak  of  the  heroism  of  another  Gregory,  namely, 
the  Praetorian  praefect,  and  of  Castus,  the  Magister 
Militum,  or  general,  in  the  late  struggles,  and  protests 
against  their  having  been  treated  with  contumely 
because  the  Roman  authorities  had  a  grievance 
against  himself.1 

My  friend  Mr.  Oman  has  some  very  sage 
comments  on  the  wider  results  of  the  Pope's 
intervention  in  the  politics  of  Italy  at  this  time, 
with  which  I  quite  agree.  He  says:  "The  peace 
made  by  Agilulf  with  Gregory  was  from  the 
political  side  a  huge  mistake  on  Agilulf  s  part.  The 
Lombards  were  still  slowly  advancing,  and  captur- 
ing one  by  one  the  remaining  Imperial  fortresses. 
They  should  never  have  halted  till  they  had  carried 
their  kingdom  up  to  its  natural  boundaries.  The 
treaty  of  599  perpetuated  the  anomaly  by  which 
isolated  patches  of  Roman  territory  in  the  marsh,  the 
mountains,  or  the  shore  were  interspersed  amongst 
the  duchies  of  the  conquerors." 

"A  few  years  later,  when  the  Exarch  Gallicinus 
broke  the  treaty  by  kidnapping  Agilulf  s  daughter 
and  carrying  her  off  to  Ravenna,  Agilulf  consented 
to  renew  the  agreement  after  tearing  away  from 
the  Empire  two  more  great  towns,  Padua  and 
Mantua.  He  should  have  pushed  on  and  made  an 
end  of  the  Exarchate  when  the  opportunity  was  in 
his  hands,  for  in  603-605  the  wretched  Phocas  was 
Emperor  at  Constantinople,  and,  oppressed  with  his 

1  E.  and  H.  v.  36. 


SAINT  GREGORY  AND  THE  LOMBARDS      107 

Persian  war,  could  send  no  succour  to  his  lieutenant 
in  Italy.     But  Agilulf  allowed  himself  to  be  easily 
propitiated,  and  the  Imperial  forces  remained  to  serve 
as  thorns  in  the  side  of  the  Lombard  monarchy, 
and   to  prevent   the  unification  of   Italy  for  more 
than  twelve  hundred  years.     That  Rome,  Venice, 
Ravenna,    and    Naples   were   never   incorporated 
with  the  Lombard  realm  was  mainly  due  to  the  per- 
sonal regard  which  Agilulf  and  Theodelinda  bore  to 
the  Roman  pontiff.     Remote  as  the  cause  may  seem, 
it  was  undoubtedly  the  source  of  half  the  political 
and  religious  complications  of   the  Middle  Ages. 
The  Papal  Peace,  as  it  has  been  called,  of  599  was  the 
origin  of  the  temporal  sovereignity  of  the  Bishop  of 
Rome  in  the  Ducatus  Romanus.  .  .  .   If  Agilulf  had 
pressed  the  siege  of  the  city  in  593,  Rome  would 
have  become  a  provincial    town   of  the  Lombard 
realm,  or  at  the  best  its  capital.  .  .  .  The  Lombard 
sealed  thereby  the  ultimate  ruin  of  his  own  people." : 
Speaking  of  the  gains  to  Italy  of  the  otherwise 
wise  policy  of  Agilulf  and   his  wife,  Oman  says: 
"  The  first  monuments  of  the  Lombards  date  back  to 
Agilulf.     The  sacristy  of  the  basilica  which  he  and 
his  wife  built  in  honour  of  St.  John  the  Baptist  at 
Monza,  hard  by  Milan,  still  contains  many  curious 
relics   of   the   pious   pair.      The   crown  which   he 
dedicated,  and  which  Paul  the  Deacon  noted  two 
hundred  years  after,  is  gone,  but  there  still  survives 
his  large  pectoral  cross  and  a  quantity  of  Theode- 
linda's    gifts,    the    most    notable    of    which    is    an 

1  Mason's  Mission  of  Augustine^  Dissertation  i.  pp.  170, 171. 


io8  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

extraordinary  life-sized  hen  and  chickens  in  silver. 
There  is  no  similar  treasure  of  the  seventh  century 
extant  anywhere."1 

Let  us  now  return  again  to  our  immediate  sub- 
ject. It  was  a  sad  fact  that  Maurice  the  Emperor 
and  Gregory  the  Pope  got  on  so  badly  together. 
Maurice  was  one  of  the  best  of  the  Byzantine  rulers, 
a  fine  soldier  and  a  gentleman,  and  he  has  unjustly 
been  visited  with  many  hard  words  by  Gregory, 
whose  exacting,  sarcastic,  and  patronising  phrases,  it 
must  be  said,he  bore  with  great  patience.  If  Justinian 
had  been  in  his  place  the  great  Pope's  career  would 
certainly  have  been  cut  short  at  an  early  stage,  and 
he  would  have  been  exiled  or  treated  with  contumely. 
It  was  not  the  Emperor's  fault  that  the  Persians  and 
Avars  needed  so  much  of  his  attention  and  were  so 
troublesome  in  his  reign,  and  that  at  all  hazards  he 
was  obliged  to  protect  his  eastern  dominions,  what- 
ever became  of  Italy.  If  the  Exarchs  did  little  to 
help,  they  had  little  means  at  their  command.  Yet 
it  was  partly  their  tactlessness  in  dealing  with  the 
Lombards  which  brought  so  many  troubles  on  the 
country,  and  it  was  perhaps  also  the  feeling  among 
some  of  them  that  what  Belisarius  and  Narses  had 
done  they  might  possibly  do  again. 

One  incident  is  worth  reporting  where  the  two 
great  men  worked  amicably  together.  Things  were 
very  bad  at  Rome  in  the  spring  of  595.  There  was 
a  shortage  of  corn  and  a  famine  seemed  impending. 
Maurice  thereupon  sent  a  sum  of  thirty  pounds  of 

1  Mason's  Mission  of  Augustine,  Dissertation  i.  p.  172. 


ST.  GREGORY  AND  THE  EMPEROR  MAURICE  109 

gold  to  relieve  the  needy  priests  and  other  persons, 
and  a  considerable  sum  to  pay  the  overdue  wages 
of  the  soldiers,  which  was  distributed  under  the 
surveillance  of  Castus  the  general.  By  this  means 
a  threatened  mutiny  was  avoided.  The  Pope  in  his 
reply  says  that  what  could  be  spared  from  relieving 
the  blind,  maimed,  and  feeble  had  been  divided 
among  a  large  number  of  poor  women  who  had  fled 
to  the  city  from  the  provinces,  and  who  had  been 
placed  in  nunneries  where  there  was  room  for  them, 
while  others  were  in  great  destitution. 

It  was  a  very  fortunate  thing  that  in  these  times 
the  papal  treasury  was  itself  well  filled,  and  that  it 
was  possible  out  of  it  to  do  something  to  mitigate 
the  pressure  of  the  Lombard  arms  by  ransoming 
prisoners, etc;  for  this  purpose  the  Pope  even  allowed 
churches  to  sell  their  plate.  Still  larger  payments 
could  also  be  made  out  of  these  rich  resources  betimes. 
Thus  when  the  Pope  made  a  pact  with  the  Lombards 
in  593,  without  the  concurrence  of  the  Emperor  or  the 
Exarch,  and  secured  their  withdrawal,  we  can  hardly 
doubt  that  it  involved  the  payment  of  a  large  sum 
of  money  which  he  had  to  find.  It  was  doubtless 
this  money  rather  than  the  prayers  and  gravity  of  the 
Pope,  as  reported  by  the  "  Continuator  of  Prosper," 
that  influenced  the  Lombard  to  withdraw.  He  tells 
us  that  the  colloquy  between  the  Pope  and  the  Lom- 
bard King  which  led  to  the  withdrawal  of  the  latter 
took  place  on  the  steps  of  the  basilica  of  St.  Peter's.1 

This  was  not  the  only  peaceable  victory  gained 

1  See  Prosper.  Cont.  Havn.  ap.  M.G-SS.  antiq.\\. 339;  Dudden,  11.23. 


no  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

by  Gregory  over  the  Lombards.  With  the  assist- 
ance of  the  Princess  Theodelinda  and  by  the  zeal  of 
the  Italian  bishops  they  were  presently  converted 
from  Arianism  to  orthodoxy,  and  thus  (apart  from 
the  merits  of  the  controversy)  they  were  drawn 
closer  to  the  old  Italian  people  whom  they  had  some- 
times so  mercilessly  abused. 

The  work  of  converting  the  Lombards,  we  are 
told,  was  expedited  by  one  of  Gregory's  most  famous 
books,  which  he  wrote  at  the  instance  of  his  friend 
and  protege"  the  Deacon  Peter,  and  which  he  dedi- 
cated to  Theodelinda.  This  book  is  known  as  his 
Dialogues,  and  consists  of  lives  of  the  various  famous 
monks  and  pious  men  who  had  lived  in  Italy.  It 
is  full  of  miracles  and  marvels  with  homiletic  applica- 
tions. It  is  written  in  four  books.  This  famous 
work  was  translated  into  Anglo-Saxon  by  Bishop 
Werfurth  in  the  reign  of  Alfred  the  Great. 

Having  con  verted  the  Lombard  Arians,  Gregory 
proceeded  to  reconsecrate  certain  Arian  churches, 
which  had  remained  closed  and  deserted  since  the 
expulsion  of  the  Goths,  after  which  no  Arian  services 
had  been  permitted  in  Rome.  One  of  these,  situated 
in  the  Suburra,  had  been  built  and  decorated  by  the 
Gothic  King  Ricimer,  and  his  body  had  been  buried 
there.  It  was  rededicated  to  St.  Agatha  of  Catania, 
a  Sicilian  saint.  Another,  near  the  Merulan  Palace 
in  the  third  region,  was  rededicated  to  St.  Severinus 
of  Noricum,  some  of  whose  relics  Gregory  ordered 
to  be  forwarded  to  Rome  and  placed  in  it.1 

1  E.  and  H.  iii.  19  and  iv.  19  ;  and  Dial.  iii.  30. 


SAINT  GREGORY  AND  THE  EXARCHS      in 

Having  thus  succeeded  in  more  or  less  staunch- 
ing the  wounds  which  the  Lombards  had  made  in 
the  Italian  community,  Gregory  next  faced  a  greater 
evil  still,  and  the  one  which  was  really  sapping  the 
Empire  of  its  life-blood,  namely,  the  exactions  and 
cruelties  of  the  Exarchs,  the  provincial  governors, 
and  the  tax-collectors.  It  must  have  been  a  gall- 
ing thing  for  him  to  receive  the  rapacious  Exarch 
Romanus  in  his  basilica  of  the  Lateran  at  Rome 
(when  he  went  there  to  receive  the  taxes  after  he  had 
recovered  the  Perugian  country,  while  a  crowd  at- 
tended him  with  banners  flying) ;  and  to  have  to  con- 
fess that  he  was  only  the  vicar  of  his  earthly  master. 
Gregory  was,  of  course,  in  temporal  matters  the  sub- 
ject of  the  Emperor,  and  theoretically  had  spiritual 
jurisdiction  only.  Writing  to  one  of  his  friends,  he 
says  :  "  How  can  the  affairs  of  Italy  prosper  under  a 
prince  (i.e.  the  Exarch)  who  traffics  in  the  offices  of 
State,  who  only  listens  to  evil  counsels,  who  only 
appoints  corrupt  ministers,  and  who  sucks  the  very 
blood  of  the  people?"  Again,  he  says  :  "The  malice 
of  Romanus  is  worse  than  the  sword  of  the  Lom- 
bards. We  would  rather  meet  open  enemies  who 
kill  us,  than  these  State  officials  who  consume  us 
with  their  rapine  and  fraud." 

On  another  side,  the  Exarch  of  Africa,  on  whom 
Sardinia  was  dependent,  sold  to  the  pagan  peasants 
in  that  island  the  permission  to  sacrifice  to  their  idols, 
and  continued  to  charge  them  for  the  privilege  after 
they  had  been  converted  by  the  efforts  of  Gregory. 
When  reproved  by  the  Bishop  of  Cagliari,  he  replied 


H2  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

that,  having  undertaken  to  pay  a  large  sum  for  his 
post,  he  could  not  otherwise  discharge  the  obligation. 
In  Corsica  the  poor  people  were  reduced  to  selling 
their  children  in  order  to  raise  money  to  pay  their 
dues,  whereon  many  fled  to  the  Lombards,  who 
treated  them  more  tenderly.  In  Sicily  we  read  of 
the  ill  deeds  of  another  exacting  tax-collector  named 
Stephen. 

Besides  his  grievances  against  the  rapacious 
officials,  Gregory  also  had  some  personal  differences 
with  the  Emperor,  in  which  he  resented  what  he 
deemed  the  latter's  interference  in  spiritual  matters. 
Thus  there  having  been  an  election  of  a  Bishop  at 
Salona  in  Dalmatia,  two  candidates  were  selected  ; 
one  was  supported  by  Maurice  and  his  Exarch, 
and  the  other  by  the  Pope.  Although  the  Emperor 
eventually  had  his  way,  the  discussion  caused  great 
soreness  and  harass,  and  evidently  from  his  letters 
it  rankled  in  the  Pope's  mind,  who  felt  it  was  not  a 
personal  matter  he  was  fighting  for,  but  one  which 
has  occupied  many  soiled  pages  of  history,  namely, 
the  question  of  what  rightly  belongs  to  Caesar  and 
what  belongs  to  God. 

Another  discussion  between  the  two  great  men 
was  carried  on  in  a  more  friendly  way.  It  referred 
to  a  serious  matter  in  which  there  was  really  no 
common  ground  between  the  disputants.  The 
afflatus  which  was  seizing  everybody  at  this  time  for 
escaping  from  the  worries  and  the  toils  of  life  by 
retiring  from  the  world,  was  seriously  affecting  the 
civil  service  and  the  army,  just  as  the  conversion  of 


ST.  GREGORY  AND  THE  EMPEROR  MAURICE   1 1 3 

the  Mongols  to  Buddhism  destroyed  their  martial 
spirit  and  converted  a  large  part  of  their  then  active 
manhood  into  monks.  The  Imperial  authorities 
had  to  face  this  difficulty,  and  we  find  Maurice  pro- 
pounding a  new  law  by  which,  in  the  first  place,  he 
forbade  public  functionaries  from  holding  ecclesias- 
tical preferment ;  and  secondly,  forbade  soldiers  still 
on  service  and  veterans  with  unexpired  obligations 
becoming  monks  or  clerics.  The  worldly  wisdom  of 
this  enactment  is  obvious,  but  it  was  not  reasonable  to 
expect  an  enthusiastic  champion  of  monasteries 
whose  kingdom  was  in  another  world,  and  who  had 
himself  sacrificed  this  world  with  great  personal  loss, 
to  approve  of  this  (however  otherwise)  sensible  policy. 
Gregory  appealed  to  the  Emperor  in  fervid  terms 
against  the  new  law.  His  letter  on  this  occa- 
sion is  a  model  of  good  taste  and  skilful  pleading. 
"The  man,"  he  says,  "who  fails  to  speak  sincerely 
to  the  Serene  Emperors  (i.e.  Maurice  and  his  son 
Theodosius)  is  responsible  towards  God.  I  am 
speaking  not  as  a  Bishop  nor  as  a  subject  of  the 
State,  but  in  regard  to  an  individual  right  (jure 
private).  For,  Serene  Lords,  you  were  my  masters 
before  you  became  masters  of  all.  .  ,  .  I  confess  to 
my  masters  (dominis  meis)  that  this  law  has  filled 
me  with  terror,  for  it  closes  the  way  to  heaven  to 
many.  There  are  many  who  can  lead  a  Christian 
life  in  the  world.  But  there  are  many  who  cannot 
be  saved  but  by  forsaking  all  things :  I  who  thus 
speak  to  my  masters,  what  am  I  but  dust  and  a 
worm  ?  .  .  .  This  power  over  the  human  race  has 


114  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

been  given  to  'my  masters,'  that  they  may  help 
those  who  would  do  well,  to  open  up  the  way  to 
heaven  and  make  the  earthly  kingdom  serve  the 
heavenly.  Yet  here  it  is  forbidden  one  who  has 
entered  the  terrestrial  army  to  pass,  unless  when  an 
invalid  or  in  retirement,  into  the  service  of  our  Lord. 
It  is  thus  Christ  answers  by  me,  the  least  of  his 
servants  and  yours  :  I  have  raised  you  from  a  secre- 
tary to  be  a  Count  of  the  Guards,  from  a  Count  to 
be  a  Caesar,  from  Caesar  to  be  an  Emperor,  and  if 
that  was  not  enough  I  have  made  you  father  of  an 
Emperor.  I  have  put  my  priests  under  your  power, 
and  you  now  withdraw  your  soldiers  from  my  ser- 
vice. .  .  .  Perhaps  it  is  supposed  that  none  of  these 
men  are  truly  converted ;  but  I,  your  unworthy 
servant,  have  known  many  soldiers  converted  in  my 
lifetime  who  have  in  the  monasteries  given  an  ex- 
ample of  every  virtue  and  have  even  worked  miracles. 
Yet  this  law  interdicts  every  similar  conversion. 
Inquire,  I  beseech  you,  what  Emperor  it  was  who 
made  a  similar  law  "  (i.e.  Julian  the  Philosopher,  or, 
as  the  Christian  apologists  named  him,  the  Apostate), 
"  and  see  whether  it  becomes  you  to  imitate  him,  .  .  . 
I  conjure  you  by  the  terrible  judge  ...  to  soften 
or  abrogate  this  law,  for  the  army  of  my  masters  shall 
increase  so  much  the  more  against  the  army  of  the 
enemy,  as  the  army  of  God  shall  increase  in  prayer. 
In  submission,  however,  to  your  command,  I  have 
forwarded  this  same  law  into  different  provinces."1 

1  E.  and  H.  iii.  6  ;  Barmby,  Ep.  Gr.  iii.  67.    Comp.  Montalembert, 
History  of  the  Monks  in  the  West,  1st  ed.  ii.  no,  in. 


SAINT  GREGORY  AND  JOHN  THE  FASTER      1 1 5 

Maurice  must  have  been  affected  by  this  letter,  for 
he  presently  modified  the  decree,  merely  insisting  on 
men  satisfying  their  state  obligations  before  joining 
monasteries,  while  soldiers  should  not  become  monks 
until  after  three  years'  noviciate.  This  was  the 
length  of  noviciate  fixed  by  Justinian  for  all  monks, 
but  was  reduced  by  Gregory  to  two  years,  in  all 
cases  except  those  of  soldiers.  The  most  serious 
dispute  between  the  two  great  men,  however,  arose 
out  of  the  growing  pretensions  of  the  Patriarch 
of  Constantinople,  John,  styled  Jejunator,  or  the 
Faster,  who  became  Bishop  of  Constantinople  on 
April  n,  582.  At  the  Council  of  Constantinople, 
held  in  381,  the  Bishop  of  Constantinople  had 
been  given  honorary  rank  next  after  the  Bishop 
of  Rome,  on  the  political  ground  that  Constan- 
tinople was  treated  as  New  Rome  and  was  the 
imperial  capital.  By  the  28th  Canon  of  the 
Council  of  Chalcedon  (451),  patriarchal  jurisdiction 
had  been  given  to  this  Eastern  patriarch  over  the 
Metropolitans  of  the  Pontic  Asian,  and  Thracian 
dioceses.  Pope  Leo  protested  against  this  at  the 
time. 

The  question  of  his  actual  status  was  now  com- 
plicated by  another  matter,  in  which  Gregory  fought 
very  strenuously  but  apparently  with  scant  sym- 
pathy from  the  great  mass  of  the  Episcopate. 
Dioscorus  of  Alexandria  had  been  given  the  title  of 

o 

GEcumenical.  It  had  been  applied  to  Pope  Leo  the 
First  in  some  documents  read  at  the  Council  of 
Chalcedon,  and  had  also  been  used  by  some  of  their 


n6  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

Eastern  correspondents  to  Popes  Hormisdas,  Aga- 
petus,  and  Boniface  the  Second. 

Justinian  had  also  given  to  the  Bishops  of  his 
capital  the  style  of  (Ecumenical,  to  which  John  the 
Cappadocian  (5 17-520),  at  the  Council  of  Constanti- 
nople in  518,  and  Mennas  (536-552)  set  up  claims, 
but  they  had  not  apparently  hitherto  presumed  to 
adopt  it.  John,  named  the  Faster  from  his  austeri- 
ties, who  greatly  exalted  the  position,  was  no  sooner 
installed  than  he  took  the  above-named  title.  Pope 
Pelagius  protested  against  it,  and  threatened  to  ex- 
communicate him  for  thus  infringing  on  the  privi- 
leges of  other  Bishops.  In  587  John  summoned  a 
Council  at  Constantinople  in  his  own  name  as  the 
(Ecumenical  or  Universal  Patriarch.  Certain  acts 
of  that  Council  were,  on  this  ground,  repudiated  by 
Pope  Pelagius  the  Second,  while  he  forbade  the 
Archdeacon  Laurentius,  who  succeeded  Gregory  as 
apocrisiarius  at  Constantinople,  to  assist  John  in 
administering  the  mass.  The  pretension  was  indeed 
an  extravagant  one,  for  the  See  was  not  even  an 
ancient  Apostolic  See  (secies  apostolica).  But  it  must 
be  remembered  that  the  complaint  against  its  use 
at  this  time  was  not  that  it  was  new,  but  that  it 
was  the  first  time  that  a  Bishop  had  unreservedly 
applied  it  to  himself,  and  Gregory  no  doubt  felt  that 
it  was  meant  as  a  distinct  assertion  of  superiority 
on  the  part  of  the  Bishop  of  New  Rome  over  the 
Bishop  of  Old  Rome,  which  with  his  views  he  could 
not  endure. 

While  Gregory,  as  we  have  seen,  styled  John  a 


SAINT  GREGORY  AND  JOHN  THE  FASTER     117 

Patriarch  in  the  synodical  letter  issued  at  his  own 
accession,  he  sent  protests  to  him  in  regard  to  his 
usurpation  which  had  continued,  and  also  bidding  the 
apocrisiarius  Sabinianus  (whom  he  styles  a  Deacon) 
to  abstain  from  saying  mass  with  him  until  he  with- 
drew the  claim,  and  in  a  sharp  letter  written  to  John 
he  protests  against  his  setting  himself  up  above  other 
Bishops.    "  Peter  himself,"  he  says,  "a  member  of  the 
Universal  Church,  Paul,  Andrew,  John,  what  were 
they  but  heads  of  particular  communities,  and  yet  all 
were  members  under  one  Lord."     In  a  paragraph 
lower  down  he  reminds  him  that  the  Fathers  at  the 
Council  of  Chalcedon  had  offered  the  objectionable 
title  to  the  prelates  of  his  own  Apostolical  See  of 
Rome,  but  they  had  never  used  the  title,  nor  wished 
to  do  so,  for  fear  it  might  have  been  thought  they 
had  denied  it  to  all  their  brethren.1     This  state- 
ment about  the  Council   of   Chalcedon,   which  is 
repeated  by  Gregory  in  other  letters,  was  based  on 
a  sophistication  in  the  Latin  copies  of  the  Acts  of 
that  Council,  and   does   not   occur   in    the   Greek 
originals,  in  which  the  Pope  like  the  other  Patriarchs 
is  called  olKovfjievucos  apxietriaKoiros?     The  passage, 
nevertheless,  shows  that  Gregory  claimed  no  such 
proud  title  for  himself.     He  also  wrote  letters  to  the 
Patriarchs  of  Alexandria  and  Antioch,  bidding  them 
join  him  in  the  protest,  and  described  the  claim  John 
had  made  in  using  the  offensive  title  as  an  infringe- 
ment of  their  rights  and  dignity  as  well  as  his  own, 

1  E.  and  H.  v.  44. 

2  Giesler,  Ecc.  Hist.  2nd  period,  ist  div.  ch.  iii.  §  94,  note  72  ; 
and  Barmby,  Letters  of  Gregory,  v.  18,  note  5. 


n8  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

and  he  rather  artfully  reminded  them  that  the  Sees 
both  of  Antioch  and  Alexandria  shared  with  that  of 
Rome  the  prerogative  of  being  more  or  less  the 
children  of  St.  Peter.  That  of  Alexandria  had  been 
founded  by  St.  Mark,  St.  Peter's  disciple,  while, 
according  to  common  opinion,  Antioch  had  been 
St.  Peter's  See  before  he  became  Bishop  of  Rome, 
so  each  one  of  these  Sees  really  represented  the 
See  of  the  Apostles,  and  they  had  the  Prince  of  the 
Apostles  in  common.1 

Again,  in  writing  to  Eulogius,  the  Patriarch  of 
Alexandria,  he  says  :  "  As  it  is  known  to  all  that  the 
holy  Evangelist  Mark  was  sent  by  his  master  Saint 
Peter  to  Alexandria,  it  binds  us  both  together  in  the 
unity  of  the  master  and  his  disciple,  so  that  I  seem 
to  preside  over  the  See  of  the  disciple  because  of 
the  master  and  you  over  the  See  of  the  master  on 
account  of  the  disciple,  ut  et  ego  sedi  discipuli  prae- 
sidere  videar  propter  magistrum  et  vos  sedi  magistri 
propter  discipulum? 

Lastly,  in  another  letter  written  to  the  same 
bishop  he  says :  "  Wherefore  there  were  many 
apostles,  but  with  regard  to  the  principality  itself 
the  See  of  the  Prince  of  the  Apostles  alone  has 
grown  strong  in  authority,  '  which  in  three  places  is 
the  See  of  one.'  For  he  himself  exalted  the  See  in 
which  he  deigned  to  rest  and  end  the  present  life. 
He  adored  the  See  to  which  he  sent  his  disciple 
as  Evangelist  (i.e.  Alexandria).  He  himself  estab- 

1  Letter  to  Anastasius,  Patriarch  of  Antioch,  E.  and  H.  v.  39. 
8  E.  and  H.  vi.  58. 


SAINT  GREGORY  AND  JOHN  THE  FASTER     119 

lished  the  See  in  which,  though  he  was  afterwards 
to  leave  it,  he  sat  for  seven  years  (i.e.  Antioch). 
Surely,  then,  it  is  the  See  of  one,  and  it  is  one  See 
over  which  by  divine  authority  three  bishops  now 
preside.  Whatever  good  I  hear  of  you,  this  I  im- 
pute to  myself.  If  you  believe  anything  good  of  me, 
impute  this  to  your  merits,  since  we  are  one  in  Him 
who  says,  '  That  they  all  may  be  one  ;  as  thou  art  in 
me,  and  I  in  thee,  that  they  also  may  be  one  in  us" 
(John  xvii.  2I).1  This  elaborate  argument  of  the 
Pope  is  forgotten  by  those  who  claim  for  Rome 
alone  the  privilege  of  being  Peter's  See. 

John  was  meanwhile  supported  by  the  Emperor 
(in  spite  of  Gregory's  warm  protest  bidding  him  dis- 
allow the  title  and,  if  necessary,  coerce  the  Patriarch 
to  obey) ;  and  by  some  of  the  Eastern  bishops,  not- 
withstanding that  the  title  was  such  an  encroach- 
ment on  the  rights  of  the  Eastern  patriarchs  both  of 
Antioch  and  Alexandria.  Gregory,  alluding  to  the 
surname  of  Faster,  writes  sarcastically  ;  "  Our  bones 
are  dried  up  with  fasting  and  our  spirit  is  full  of 
pride,  we  have  a  proud  heart  under  these  miserable 
garments.  Lying  down  on  ashes  we  aspire  to  great- 
ness." Meanwhile,  he  adopted  for  himself  the  title 
of  "Servant  of  the  servants  of  God"  (servus  servorum 
Dei).  This  title  had  also  been  used  of  himself  by 
St.  Augustine,  Ep.  ad  Vitalem,  by  Pope  Damasus, 
Ep.  iv.  ad  Stephanum  et  Africae  Episcopos?"  and  it 
has  been  adopted  by  all  popes  since  Gregory,  and 

1  E.  and  H.  vii.  37  ;  Barmby,  vii.  40. 

2  See  Barmby,  Epistles  of  St.  Gregory,  bk.  i.  r,  note. 


120  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

among  them  by  some  very  proud  Popes,  on  whom 
this  badge  of  humility  does  not  sit  easily.  As  we 
have  seen,  Gregory  would  not  accept  the  title  of 
Universal  Bishop,  or  Pope,  which  was  offered  to  him 
by  the  Patriarch  of  Alexandria.  To  the  latter  he 
wrote :  "  I  want  to  increase  in  virtue  and  not  in 
words,  nor  do  I  deem  that  to  be  an  honour  to  myself 
which  sacrifices  that  of  my  brethren.  My  honour  is 
the  honour  of  the  Universal  Church.  My  honour 
is  the  established  strength  of  my  brethren.  I  feel 
myself  truly  honoured  only  when  each  one  who 
deserves  the  honour  is  not  denied  it.  Away  with 
these  words  which  inflate  vanity  and  wound  charity." 

Notwithstanding  the  pressure  of  many  influential 
people,  the  Patriarch,  who  was  supported  by  Maurice, 
refused  to  give  way,  and  the  title  to  which  Gregory 
objected  is  still  used  by  the  patriarchs  of  Constanti- 
nople. John  the  Faster  died  in  595  very  poor, 
having  spent  all  his  means  in  almsgiving,  and  when 
an  inventory  of  his  goods  was  taken,  there  were  only 
found  a  wooden  trestle,  a  woollen  tunic  and  a  worn 
mantle.  The  Emperor  had  these  relics  removed  to 
the  palace,  and  at  Easter  he  himself  slept  on  the  little 
bed.  Notwithstanding  the  controversy,  Gregory, 
after  his  death,  gave  him  the  title  of  "  Very  Pious," 
and  the  Greeks  have  counted  him  among  the  saints. 
Cyriacus,  his  successor,  continued  to  be  friendly  with 
Gregory  without  giving  up  the  style  of  Universal 
(CEcumenical). 

We  now  reach  a  famous  turning-point  in  the 
world's  history.  The  Emperor  Maurice  had  reigned 


MURDER  OF  MAURICE  AND  HIS  FAMILY      121 

for  twenty  years,  and  had  shown  many  of  the  qualities 
of  a  great  prince,  and  had  it  not  been  that  he  was 
continually  hampered  by  having  to  meet  a  very 
powerful  set  of  external  enemies  who  made  great 
drains  on  the  resources  of  the  Empire,  he  might  have 
been  classed  among  the  more  fortunate  of  rulers. 
"In  591  he  had  brought  to  a  successful  close  the 
long  Persian  war  which  had  been  for  nineteen  years 
draining  the  resources  of  the  East.  A  fortunate 
change  of  governors  in  Persia  had  enabled  him  to 
make  a  creditable  peace,  by  which  he  won  back 
not  only  the  lost  fortresses  of  the  frontier,  but  a 
new  province,  the  district  of  Persarmenia."1  The 
inevitable  wars  with  the  Persians,  the  Avars,  and 
Slavs,  especially  the  last  two,  were  especially  costly, 
for  the  enemy  had  to  be  continually  appeased  by  the 
payment  of  large  sums  of  money,  and  the  armies  were 
continually  in  a  state  of  feverish  and  not  very  glorious 
campaigning.  These  payments  had  to  be  dragged 
out  of  an  impoverished  country,  and  necessitated 
economies  which  were  ill  understood  and  appreciated, 
and  the  Emperor  acquired  the  reputation  of  being 
mean  and  grasping,  and  especially  did  his  economies 
cause  discontent  among  the  not  too  well  or  regularly 
paid  soldiery,  with  whom  he  became  increasingly  un- 
popular, nor  did  his  policy  towards  them  in  his  later 
life  savour  much  of  tact.  Thus,  for  some  unexplained 
reason,  perhaps  because  the  enemy  had  demanded 
an  altogether  exorbitant  payment,  he  in  599  refused 
to  ransom  12,000  of  his  men  who  had  been  made 

1  Oman,  op.  cit.  173. 


122  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

prisoners  by  the  Avars,  who  thereupon  mercilessly 
slew  them.  The  tragedy  earned  for  the  Em- 
peror the  dangerous  names  of  Miser  and  Murderer. 
Two  years  later,  he  ordered  the  army  which  was 
guarding  the  Balkan  provinces  to  winter  in  the  land 
of  the  Slavs  beyond  the  Danube,  in  order  to  save 
supplies.  This  led  to  a  mutiny  ;  the  soldiers  refused 
to  cross  the  river,  and,  placing  a  centurion  named 
Phocas  on  a  shield,  they  gave  him  the  title  of  Exarch 
and  marched  towards  the  capital. 

Phocas  stands  out  in  history  among  the  great- 
est monsters  who  have  ruled  over  men,  illiterate, 
drunken,  sensual,  passionate,  and  cruel.  His  very 
personal  appearance — his  diminutive  and  deformed 
person,  the  closeness  of  his  shaggy  eyebrows,  his 
red  hair,  his  beardless  chin,  and  his  cheek  disfigured 
and  discoloured  by  a  formidable  scar,  which  grew 
black  when  he  was  in  a  rage,  are  spoken  of  as  fit 
emblems  of  his  low  and  savage  nature.1 

He  presently  reached  Constantinople,  whence 
Maurice,  who  had  no  adequate  force  to  oppose  him, 
fled  to  Chalcedon.  He  refused  to  offer  a  hopeless 
resistance,  and  was  put  to  death,  as  were  his  five  sons, 
together  with  Constantine  the  Patrician  and  George 
the  chief  Notary.2  Their  bodies  were  thrown  into 
the  sea,  and  their  heads  were  exposed  in  the  city, 
and  then  buried.  This  was  in  November  602.  This 
terrible  tragedy  would  hardly  occupy  these  para- 
graphs but  for  the  conduct  of  Gregory  in  the  matter, 

1  Barm  by,  Gregory  the  Great,  p.  131. 
3  Gibbon,  v.  45  ;  E.  and  H.  xiii.  i. 


ST.  GREGORY  AND  THE  EMPEROR  PHOCAS  123 

which  was  quite  intolerable,  and  is  a  fair  measure 
of  what  the  best  of  men  will  do  when  acting  under 
ungoverned  exasperation.  The  Patriarch  of  Con- 
stantinople was  a  devoted  friend  of  Maurice,  who 
had  always  sustained  the  claims  of  his  See,  and  he 
did  his  best  to  protect  the  Imperial  family,  especially 
the  ladies  of  the  household  of  Maurice,  from  the 
cruelties  inflicted  on  them.  This  was  greatly  re- 
sented by  Phocas,  who  accordingly  extended  a  very 
friendly  hand  to  the  Patriarch  of  the  West,  and  he 
made  ample  professions  of  devotion  both  to  the 
Pope  and  to  the  Church. 

These  civilities  were  soothing  to  the  Pope,  even 
when  offered  by  such  an  evil-doer.  The  announce- 
ment of  the  coronation  of  Phocas  and  his  wife, 
Leontia,  did  not  reach  Rome  till  the  kalends  of  May 
603,  when  messengers  also  arrived  bearing  the 
images  (icona)  of  the  two  sovereigns  crowned  with 
laurel.  They  were  taken  to  the  great  hall  in  the 
Lateran  Palace  called  the  Basilica  Julii,  where  they 
were  acclaimed  by  all  the  clergy  and  the  senate  in  the 
words,  Exaudi  Christe  /  Focae  Augusto  et  Leontiae 
Augustae  vita.  ("Hear,  O  Christ.  Long  life  to 
Phocas  the  Emperor  and  the  Empress  Leontia.") 
"  Then,"  continues  the  story  (which,  according  to 
Ewald  and  Hartmann,  was  derived  from  some  pro- 
bably official  Annals),  "the  most  holy  and  apostolical 
Pope  Gregory  ordered  the  images  to  be  placed  in 
the  oratory  or  chapel  of  St.  Cesarius,  which  was 
situated  in  the  Imperial  palace  on  the  Palatine."1 

1  E.  and  H.  xiii.  i. 


I24  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

All  this  has  a  grim  and  unpleasant  sound,  but  it 
was  not  all. 

Gregory  had  received  many  kindnesses  from 
Maurice,  and  he  ought  to  have  respected  the 
decencies  of  life  rather  better  than  to  exult  as  he 
did  when  he  heard  of  his  death.  No  doubt  he 
was  very  sore  at  Maurice's  countenance  of  the  pre- 
tensions of  John  the  Faster  to  use  the  title  of  Uni- 
versal Bishop.  He  had  also  resented  Maurice's 
attitude  on  the  controversy  about  the  three  chapters  ; 
and  perhaps  also  the  hapless  policy  of  the  Exarch 
and  his  master  towards  the  Lombards.  Above 
all,  probably  what  rankled  in  his  mind  was  the 
epithet  applied  to  him  by  Maurice,  when,  without 
the  consent  of  the  Emperor,  he  had  made  a  com- 
promising peace  with  the  Lombards  and  had  been 
styled  a  "simpleton"  for  his  pains.  Anyhow  it  is  plain 
that  he  came  to  bitterly  dislike  Maurice.  This  is 
quite  true,  and  perhaps  not  entirely  unjustified  ;  but 
that  he  should  have  addressed  his  murderer,  and  the 
murderer  of  so  many  reputable  persons,  in  the  terms 
of  flattery  contained  in  his  congratulatory  letters  is 
intolerable  and  shocking,  for  he  could  hardly  plead 
ignorance  of  what  was  taking  place  at  Constanti- 
nople, and  of  the  manner  of  man  he  was  who  was 
now  at  the  helm.  His  ties  with  the  capital  were 
close,  and  his  correspondents  there  were  numerous. 
His  first  letter  to  Phocas  commences  with  the  phrase, 
"  Glory  to  God  in  the  Highest,  who,  according  as  it 
is  written,  changes  times  and  transfers  kingdoms, 

.  sometimes  when  the  merciful  God  has  decreed 


THE  COLUMN   OF   PHOCAS   IN  THE   ROMAN  FORUM. 

To  face  p.  124. 


ENHANCEMENT  OF  THE  PAPAL  POWER      125 

to  refresh  the  mourning  hearts  of  many  with  his 
consolation ;  he  advances  one  to  the  summit  of 
government,  and  through  the  bowels  of  his  mercy 
infuses  the  grace  of  exultation  into  the  minds  of 
all.  .  .  .  We  .  .  .  rejoice  that  the  Benignity  of 
your  Piety  has  arrived  at  Imperial  supremacy. 
Let  the  heavens  rejoice,  and  let  the  earth  be 
glad  (Ps.  xcv.  n) ;  and  let  the  whole  people  of  the 
republic,  hitherto  afflicted  exceedingly,  grow  cheer- 
ful for  your  benignant  deeds.  Let  the  proud  minds 
of  enemies  be  subdued  under  the  yoke  of  your 
domination,"  etc.  etc.  In  a  second  letter  to  Phocas 
he  begins  with  the  phrase :  "It  pleases  us  to  con- 
sider with  rejoicing  and  great  thanksgiving,  what 
praises  we  owe  to  Almighty  God,  and  how  the  yoke 
of  sadness  has  been  removed,  and  we  are  come  to 
times  of  liberty  under  the  Imperial  piety  of  your 
Benignity  "  ;  and  it  ends  with  the  words,  "  May  the 
Holy  Trinity  guard  your  life,  for  many  years,  so  that 
we  may  the  longer  rejoice  in  the  good  effects  of  your 
Piety,  which  we  have  received  after  long  waiting." 
A  third  letter  written  to  his  equally  bloodthirsty 
wife,  the  Empress  Leontia,  begins  :  "  What  tongue 
may  suffice  to  speak,  what  mind  to  think,  what  great 
thanks  we  owe  to  Almighty  God,  for  the  serenity  of 
your  Empire,  in  that  such  hard  burdens  of  long 
duration  have  been  removed  from  our  necks,  and 
the  gentle  yoke  of  Imperial  supremacy  has  returned, 
which  subjects  are  glad  to  bear.  Glory,  then,  be 
given  to  the  Creator  of  all  by  the  hymning  choirs  of 
angels,  and  thanksgiving  be  paid  by  men  on  earth, 


126  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

for  that  the  whole  republic,  which  has  endured 
many  wounds  of  sorrow,  has  at  length  found  the 
balm  of  your  consolation." l 

The  effusive  language  of  Gregory  about  Phocas 
and  his  wife  were  no  doubt  largely  due  to  the  well- 
timed  deference  of  the  latter  to  the  Pope.  It  will 
not  do  to  say  that  it  was  drawn  from  him,  when  he, 
perhaps,  hardly  knew  the  real  character  of  the 
tyrant.  As  late  as  February  60 1,  two  years  before 
his  own  death,  Gregory  writes  to  the  Patriarch  of 
Jerusalem  :  "  Let  thanks  be  given  without  ceasing 
to  Almighty  God,  and  let  prayers  be  made  for  our 
most  pious  and  Christian  Emperor,  and  for  his  most 
tranquil  spouse,  and  his  most  noble  offspring,  in 
whose  time  the  mouths  of  heretics  are  closed." 
This  last  clause  perhaps  explains  a  good  deal. 

Let  us  now  sum  up  shortly  what  Gregory  had 
been  able  to  do  as  a  politician  and  a  statesman  in 
the  first  few  years  of  his  pontificate.  The  most 
important  thing  of  all  for  the  permanent  peace  of 
the  world,  and  for  the  uniting  of  men  in  a  common 
feeling  of  brotherhood,  was  the  conversion  of  the 
Arians  of  Italy.  Whatever  the  merits  of  the  con- 
troversy between  them  and  the  orthodox  party, 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  existence  and  con- 
tinuance of  the  schism  at  this  time  was  a  source  of 
continual  danger  and  menace  to  the  Western  world, 
and  divided  men  by  the  most  trying  and  irritating 
of  solvents,  namely,  a  feud  involving  heretical 
charges,  when  a  heretic  was  deemed  a  criminal  and 

1  E.  and  H.  xiii.  34,  41,  42  ;  Barmby,  xiv.  31,  38,  39. 


ENHANCEMENT  OF  THE  PAPAL  POWER      127 

worse  than  a  pagan.  The  bringing  of  Italy  again 
into  close  relation  with  Gaul  and  Spain,  by  uniting 
them  into  one  common  Christian  fold,  even  if  only 
nominally  in  some  cases,  was  a  stupendous  gain  to 
the  world,  when  there  was  little  or  no  moral  re- 
straint anywhere  except  that  imposed  by  the  Church, 
and  when  every  man's  hand,  or,  rather,  every  tribe's 
weapons  were  directed  against  its  neighbours. 

This  change  led  further,  no  doubt,  to  the  great 
enlargement  of  the  Pope's  prestige  and  authority. 
As  Patriarch  of  the  West,  his  became  the  supreme 
Court  of  Appeal  in  matters  of  morals  and  discipline. 
As  he  lived  in  Rome  he  was  surrounded  by  men 
trained  as  lawyers,  and  holding  the  traditions  of 
the  ancient  Roman  courts  in  their  hands.  No  one 
cared  to  dispute  his  appellate  jurisdiction.  Bishops, 
priests,  and  laymen  gladly  accepted  the  Pope  as  their 
common  arbiter,  adviser,  and  friend,  and  more  especi- 
ally so  now,  when  he  had  done  so  much  to  piece 
together  the  riven  garment.  His  own  high  character, 
gifts,  and  administrative  powers  made  him  still  more 
popular.  The  paragraphs  which  Gregory  of  Tours 
(who  was  born  about  the  same  time,  and  who  died 
before  the  Pope),  devotes  to  him,  prove  what  a  per- 
sonality as  well  as  a  Pope  he  was  felt  to  be,  and 
this  is  even  more  obvious  to  any  one  who  will  read 
his  correspondence. 

We  must  not  push  this  theory  too  far,  however, 
nor  suppose  that  at  this  time  the  Pope's  authority  in 
spiritual  matters  was  what  it  became  when  the 
individual  initiative  and  influence  of  each  bishop 


128  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

was  swamped  by  that  of  the  great  Roman  Metro- 
politan. In  an  earlier  chapter  I  have  brought 
together  (so  far  as  I  know)  all  the  passages  in 
which  Gregory  states  his  view  as  to  the  real  extent 
of  the  Papal  Primacy,  and  they  show  how  com- 
pletely he  repu'diated  the  style  of  QEcumenical 
Patriarch,  which  he  describes  as  "a  wicked  and 
blasphemous  title."1  Nothing  could  be  in  greater 
contrast  to  the  pretensions  of  later  Popes.  In  this 
behalf  let  me  quote  a  passage  from  Dr.  Fried- 
rich's  great  work:  "Cardinal  Lucca  says2  it  is 
the  '  opinio  in  hac  Curia  recepta '  that  the  Pope  is 
Ordinarius  Or  dinar  iorum,  habens  Universum  mun- 
dum  pro  dioecesi,  so  that  bishops  and  archbishops 
are  only  his  '  officiates,'  or,  as  Benedict  xiv.  observes,3 
the  Pope  is  '-in  tola  Ecclesia,  proprius  sacerdos ; 
potest  ab  omni  jurisdiction*  episcopi  subtrahere 
quamlibet  Ecclesiam'"  In  Merlinis  Decis.  Rot. 
Rom.,  ed.  1660  (Dec.  880)  we  read:  "Papa  est 
dominus  omnium  beneficiarum. " 4  Nothing  of  this 
extraordinary  claim,  which  makes  the  Pope  the 
concurrent  ordinary  in  every  diocese,  and  reduces 
the  bishops  to  the  position  of  mere  vicars  of  the 
Pope,  is  to  be  found  in  any  of  Gregory's  voluminous 
writings,  in  which,  on  the  contrary,  he  disclaims 
and  repudiates  it  in  language  of  studied  scorn.  He 
may  have  been  wrong  and  the  later  Popes  may 
have  been  right,  but  they  cannot  both  be  right, 
and  inasmuch  as  all  Popes  have  been  pronounced 

1  E.  and  H.  v.  18  ;  viii.  30.  2  Relat.  Curiae.  Rom.  Diss.  iv.  10. 

s  De  Synod.  Dioces.  x.  14 ;  v.  7.  *  Janus,  422,  note. 


ENHANCEMENT  OF  THE  PAPAL  POWER      129 

infallible,  in  this  issue  we  have  a  logical  knot  which  no 
casuist,  however  subtle,  has  been  able  to  disentangle. 
Still  the  Pope's  power  was  greatly  enhanced  by 
Gregory,  and  not  merely  in  spiritual  matters.  In 
Italy  his  recent  successes  as  a  diplomatist,  and  the 
relief  they  gave  to  the  community,  must  have  greatly 
increased  the  papal  power,  not  merely  in  religious 
matters,  but  in  civil  ones  ^;oo.  He  was  the  first 
Pope  who  negotiated  treaties  independently  of  the 
Emperor,  and  who  presumed  to  act  in  dealing  with 
other  communities  as  if  he  had  a  secular  status 
of  his  own  as  well  as  a  spiritual  one.  The  great 
possessions  of  the  Holy  See  in  Italy,  Sicily,  and 
elsewhere  made  him  virtually  a  Prince  of  this 
world,  and  when  the  representatives  of  the  Eastern 
Empire  were  limp  and  lax  and  allowed  the  reins  to 
slip,  and  chaos  to  come  in  view,  it  was  natural  that 
the  Italians  should  have  clung  to  the  one  institution 
which  was  well  administered,  and  to  the  one 
authority  wielded  with  wisdom,  equity,  and  force. 


CHAPTER   V 

IN  the  previous  pages  I  have  almost  entirely 
limited  myself  to  Gregory's  doings  in  the  lands 
south  of  the  Alps.  I  now  propose  to  describe  his 
work  to  the  north  of  those  mountains  in  Spain 
and  Gaul,  and  shall  have  to  enter  into  some  detail 
in  view  of  the  ultimate  goal  of  my  work. 

In  the  time  of  Gregory  a  small  portion  of  the 
maritime  border  of  Southern  Spain,  with  its  capital 
at  Corduba  (Cordova),  still  remained,  as  we  have 
seen,  subject  to  the  Empire.  The  rest  of  the  pen- 
insula was  held  by  the  Visigoths.  In  addition  to 
their  possessions  in  Spain,  the  Visigothic  kings  also 
ruled  a  portion  of  what  is  familiarly  known  as 
Gaul  or  France,  which  the  Franks  had  not  been 
able  to  take  from  them,  namely,  the  country  south 
of  the  Garonne,  known  as  the  land  of  Narbonne, 
or  Septimania,  which  was  also  called  Gothia  for  a 
long  time  after. 

The  Arian  form  of  Christianity  was  held  by  the 
ruling  family  among  the  Visigoths  and  the  greater 
part  of  the  aristocracy  of  the  country  who  were  of 
Visigothic  blood.  On  the  other  hand,  the  descend- 
ants of  the  old  Roman  population,  who  formed  a 
considerable  proportion  of  the  people,  were  ortho- 


SAINT  GREGORY  AND  THE  VISIGOTHS      131 

dox  Catholics,  as  were  the  Suevians,  a  German 
tribe  which  had  kept  up  its  independence  behind 
the  northern  mountains,  and  which  had  recently 
been  subjected  by  the  Visigoths. 

The  great  King  Leovigild  (568-589),  who  did 
so  much  to  consolidate  the  Visigothic  power,  was 
chiefly  thwarted  in  that  work  by  the  fact  just 
named  which  united  the  Byzantines  in  the  south, 
the  Suevi  in  Gallicia  and  Lusitania,  and  a  large 
proportion  of  the  Romanised  peasants  in  other  parts 
of  Spain. 

His  son  Hermenigild  in  579  married  Ingunthis, 
the  daughter  of  Sigebert,  King  of  Austrasia,  and  of 
his  wife  Brunichildis.  Although  she  was  then  only 
thirteen  years  old,  she  could  not  be  persuaded  to 
abandon  her  religion.  Leovigild  assigned  the 
Province  of  Baetica  as  an  appanage  to  the  married 
pair.  Hermenigild  fixed  his  capital  at  Seville,  where 
the  famous  orthodox  archbishop,  Leander,  the  friend 
of  Gregory,  had  his  see. 

Under  the  joint  influence  of  his  wife  and  of 
Leander,  Hermenigild  was  himself  converted  to 
orthodoxy  and  given  the  name  of  John.1  His 
conversion  may  have  been  further  influenced  by 
the  ambition  of  trying  to  oust  his  father  from 
the  throne.  It  is  certain  that  when  he  presently 
rebelled  he  was  supported  by  the  orthodox  party 
in  various  parts  of  Spain. 

In  view  of  this  revolt  his  father  now  made  certain 

1  Gregory  of  Tours,   v.   39;  St.   Gregory's    Dialogues,  iii.   31; 
Paul  the  Deacon,  iii.  21. 


132  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

concessions  to  the  orthodox.  Although  a  heretic,  he 
went  to  pray  in  Catholic  churches,  and  under  his 
influence  the  Arian  synod  at  Toledo  decreed  that  "  it 
is  not  necessary  for  those  who  come  to  our  Catholic 
faith  from  the  Roman  religion  "  (a  notable  phrase) 
"to  be  rebaptized,  bat  they  are  to  be  purified  merely 
by  imposition  of  hands  and  reception  of  the  com- 
munion, and  are  to  give  thanks  to  the  Father, 
through  the  Son,  in  the  Holy  Ghost"  By  this  con- 
cession— by  bribery  and  other  promises — he  secured 
the  adhesion  of  a  number  of  the  Catholic  clergy 
to  the  Royal  creed.1  Two  years  later  he  attacked 
Hermenigild,  drove  him  from  Baetica,  and  com- 
pelled him  to  fly  to  Corduba,  then  the  seat  of  power 
of  the  Byzantine  possessions  in  Southern  Spain, 
which  was  surrendered  to  Leovigild  by  its  Byzantine 
commander,  the  Praefect  Comitiolus,  for  a  bribe. 

Hermenigild  was  then  exiled  to  Valencia,  and, 
having  apparently  tried  to  escape  to  the  Franks, 
he  was  presently  put  to  death  at  Tarragona  in 
585.  Gregory  of  Tours  suggests  that  this  was  at 
the  instance  of  Leovigild.  The  Spanish  writers, 
John  of  Biclaro  and  Isidore  of  Seville,  as  well  as 
the  neutral  chronicler,  Gregory  of  Tours,  all  de- 
scribe Hermenigild  as  a  mere  rebel  and  tyrant,  and 
make  no  pretence  that  he  was  a  martyr  to  his  faith.2 

Gregory  the  Pope,  on  the  other  hand,  had 
doubtless  been  influenced  by  his  friend  Leander 
and  the  other  Spaniards  whom  he  had  met  at 

1  Joh.  Bicl.  Chron.  ad.  an.  580  ;  Dudden,  i.  405. 
*  Ib,  406, 


CONVERSION  OF  THE  VISIGOTHS         133 

Constantinople,  where    they  had  gone   to   further 
the  cause  of  the  young  prince.     He  tells  a  quite 
fantastic   story   about    Hermenigild    having   been 
killed  in  a  brutal  manner  by  his  father  after  he  had 
been  in  vain  pressed  to  abandon  his  orthodoxy,  and 
reports  that  after  his  death  the  sounds  of  psalmody 
were  heard  around  his   body,  while  lighted  lamps 
were   seen.       This    seems    to   be   an    unhistorical 
fabrication  imposed  upon  the  too  credulous  Pope, 
who  was  always  willing  to    believe  what    he  was 
told  to  the  credit  of  orthodoxy.    "  A  close  examina- 
tion of  all  the  sources,"  says  Professor  F.  Gorres, 
"has  led  me  to  the  conclusion  that  the  supposed 
martyrdom  of  Hermenigild  cannot  be  substantiated." 
Mr.  Dudden,  after  quoting  this  phrase,  continues : 
"  But   the  Roman  Church  has  preferred  the  Gre- 
gorian  account  to  that  of  the  Spanish  historians, 
who  were  alone  qualified  to  relate  the  facts.     By 
a  brief  of   Sixtus  the    Fifth    in   1585,   the  cult  of 
St.   Hermenigild  was  instituted   in  Spain ;    Urban 
the  Eighth  made  it  general  throughout  the  Roman 
Church."1 

In  589  Leovigild  was  succeeded  by  his  second 
son  Reccared.  He  was  probably  largely  induced  to 
change  his  faith  by  political  considerations  and  by  a 
desire  to  get  into  closer  relations  with  the  Byzantine 
Emperor,  whose  prestige  still  exercised  great  fascina- 
tion in  the  West,  and  with  whom  the  great  orthodox 
bishops,  Leander  of  Seville  and  Licinianus  of  Carta- 
gena, had  much  influence.  Only  a  few  months  after 

1  Dudden,  i.  407. 


134  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

his  accession  he  summoned  a  synod  at  Toledo,  at 
which  he  abjured  Arianism  and  induced  many  bishops 
and  nobles  to  do  the  same.  The  king's  change  of 
faith  was  not  everywhere  accepted,  and  the  Arians 
broke  out  into  revolt  in  several  places.  These  dis- 
turbances were  soon  suppressed,  and  in  May  589 
a  great  council  was  held  at  Toledo,  attended  by 
Reccared  and  his  queen,  by  the  principal  Visigothic 
nobles  and  courtiers,  by  sixty-two  bishops,  and  a 
large  number  of  the  inferior  clergy.  At  this  synod 
Reccared  made  a  great  speech,  probably  composed 
by  Archbishop  Leander,  who  regulated  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  Council  with  the  Abbot  Eutropius. 
Leander  was  a  remarkable  personage.  Like 
Gregory,  he  was  of  noble  birth.  He  was  a  theo- 
logian and  a  strong  opponent  of  Arianism.  He 
wrote  homilies  on  the  Psalms,  composed  music,  was 
a  student  of  ritual,  a  great  devotee  of  Monachism, 
and  wrote  excellent  letters. 

In  his  address  to  the  synod,  King  Reccared 
declared  that  he  had  been  inspired  by  God  to 
restore  the  Goths  to  the  orthodox  fold,  and  asked 
the  bishops  to  aid  him  in  the  work.  He  then 
denounced  Arianism,  gave  his  adherence  to  the 
four  general  councils  and  all  other  councils  which 
agreed  with  them,  and  recited  the  creeds  of  Nicsea 
and  Constantinople  and  the  definition  of  Chalcedon. 
It  is  notable  that  nothing  is  said  about  the  so-called 
Athanasian  creed,  which  is  nearly  conclusive  that  it 
was  not  then  in  existence,  for  on  no  occasion  would 
its  recital  have  been  more  appropriate  than  at  this 


SAINT  GREGORY'S  LETTER  TO  LEANDER   135 

great  repudiation  of  Arianism.  After  he  had  finished, 
the  clergy  and  nobles  who  had  been  converted  from 
Arianism  professed  the  orthodox  faith,  denounced 
Arianism  in  twenty-three  anathemas,  and  repeated 
the  creeds,  etc.,  as  their  master  had  done.  These 
were  subscribed  by  eight  Arian  bishops  and  their 
clergy  and  by  the  nobles.  The  synod  agreed  to 
certain  canons  ;  inter  alia,  to  one  providing  that  the 
Creed  should  be  recited  at  the  time  of  Holy  Com- 
munion, so  as  to  secure  that  the  faithful  should  be 
perfectly  acquainted  with  the  articles  of  their  belief. 
After  this,  Leander  preached  a  fine  sermon,  apos- 
trophising the  work  they  had  done  "  in  destroying 
the  wall  of  discord  which  had  separated  them  "  and 
in  securing  the  union  of  the  Church,  with  Christ  as 
a  corner-stone.1 

Leander  wrote  to  inform  his  close  friend  the 
Pope  about  the  happy  event.  His  letter  took 
some  time  to  travel,  and  it  was  not  till  the  year 
591  that  it  was  acknowledged  by  Gregory,  who 
expressed  his  great  gratification  at  the  news.  In 
this  letter  he  styles  Leander  Bishop  of  Hispalensis 
(now  Seville),  and  he  calls  the  "Glorious  King" 
Reccared,  their  common  son  (communem  filium). 
He  uses  a  pretty  phrase  about  the  king,  in  which 
he  says :  "  In  describing  his  character  to  me  in 
thy  letters  thou  hast  made  me  love  him,  though  I 
know  him  not"  (Cujus  dum  mihi  per  scripta 
vestra  mores  exprimitis,  amare  me  etiam  quern 
nescio  fecistis).  One  of  the  clauses  of  the  letter  is 

1  Dudden,  i.  409. 


136  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

devoted  to  some  remarks  on  the  "Trine"  immer- 
sion in  baptism  practised  generally  in  the  Catholic 
Church,  but  apparently  not  among  the  orthodox  in 
Spain,  who,  to  differentiate  themselves  from  the 
Arians,  who  had  adopted  it,  used  one  immersion 
only.  Gregory  approves  of  Leander's  continuing 
this  practice,  on  the  ground  that  the  people,  in 
numbering  the  immersions,  might  proceed  to  divide 
the  Deity,  adding  that  so  long  as  one  faith  was 
preserved  there  was  room  for  diversity  of  practice. 

In  the  same  letter  Gregory  tells  Leander  he  is 
sending  him  a  copy  of  his  Pastoral  Rule  and  the 
first  and  second  parts  of  his  Moralia.1 

Under  the  year  595  Ewald  and  Hartmann 
publish  the  letter  appended  to  Gregory's  book  just 
named,  in  which  he  had  dedicated  the  work  to  his 
old  friend.  In  the  heading  he  styles  Leander 
Most  Reverend  and  Most  Holy  and  calls  him 
Coepiscopus.2 

Four  years  later,  and  doubtless  at  the  request 
of  Leander,  Gregory  sent  the  former  the  pallium, 
with  permission  to  use  it  at  Mass.  Gams,  the 
historian  of  the  Spanish  Church,  holds  that  this 
also  involved  the  conferring  on  Leander  of  the 
vicariate  of  the  Holy  See  in  Spain,  which  had 
been  conferred  on  his  predecessors,  archbishops  of 
Seville,  by  Popes  Simplicius  and  Hormisdas,3  but 
in  such  a  case  we  should  have  expected  an  express 
reference  to  the  fact  in  the  Pope's  letter.  It  is 

1  E.  and  H.  \.  41.  *  Ib.  v.  53*. 

8  Gams,  ii.  2,  p.  47  seq.  ;  E.  and  H.  ix.  227. 


SAINT  GREGORY'S  LETTER  TO  RECCARED     137 

probable,  in  fact,  that  the  gift  of  the  pallium  did 
not  in  this  case  secure  any  enhanced  papal  authority 
in  Spain,  where  Reccared,  who  had  been  so  recently 
converted,  might  easily  have  resented  what  he 
might  interpret  as  an  encroachment  of  a  foreign 
power. 

Gregory  says  very  handsome  things  about  the 
king's  abandoning  the  Arian  heresy,  a  fact  which 
he  says  had  been  reported  to  him  by  the  priest 
Probinus.  He  also  praises  him  for  having  refused 
a  bribe  offered  by  the  Jews  to  tempt  him  to  have 
an  enactment  which  had  been  made  against  them 
revoked.  He  further  thanks  him  for  the  gifts  he 
had  sent  to  St.  Peter,  and  sends  him  in  return 
some  filings  from  the  chains  of  that  Apostle  en- 
closed in  a  key,  with  a  cross  containing  a  portion 
of  the  True  Cross,  and  some  hair  of  John  the 
Baptist,  and  tells  him  how  he  had  sent  Leander 
the  pallium,  according  to  ancient  custom  {pallium 
a  beati  Petri  apostoli  sede  transmissimus,  quod 
et  antiquae  consuetudinis  et  vestris  moribus  et  ejus 
bonitati  atque  gravitati  debemus.}  * 

Reccared's  conversion  had  greatly  strengthened 
his  hands.  As  Oman  says :  "  It  took  away  the 
great  barrier  between  the  Visigoth  and  the  Roman 
which  had  hitherto  rendered  any  true  loyalty  to 
the  Crown  impossible  ;  the  two  nations  soon  began 
to  coalesce  and  melt  into  a  single  people.  It  is  of 
no  small  interest  to  note  that  Reccared,  first  of  all 
the  kings  of  Spain,  was  able  to  trust  his  armies  to 

1  E.  and  H.  ix.  228. 


138  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

Roman  generals  ^and  to  count  on  the  enthusiastic 
support  of  Roman  bishops."  He  died  in  601. 

It  would  seem  that  Gregory  had  undertaken 
to  mediate  between  Reccared  and  the  Byzantine 
emperor,  and  in  a  letter  to  the  king  he  asks  him 
to  send  a  copy  of  the  pact  alleged  to  have  been 
made  in  the  time  of  Justinian,  with  the  Gothic 
king,  Athanigild,  of  which  the  copy  in  the  Imperial 
archives  was  said  to  have  been  burnt  with  many 
other  documents  in  a  fire.1  In  addition  to  this  the 
Pope  suggested  to  him  that  the  document,  if  found, 
might  not  be  in  his  favour,  and  that  it  would  be  well 
for  him  to  look  for  it  among  his  own  charters  be- 
fore compromising  himself.  These  letters,  it  would 
seem,  were  sent  to  Spain  by  the  Abbot  Cyriacus. 

The  only  case  of  which  we  have  any  notice  in 
which  Gregory  claimed  any  jurisdiction  in  Spain 
is  referred  to  in  certain  letters,  whose  genuineness  is 
doubtful  and  which  profess  to  have  been  written  by 
the  Pope  in  August  603  to  John  the  Deacon,  who  is 
described  as  holding  the  office  of  a  Defensor  there, 
and  who  was  on  his  way  to  Spain.  These  letters 
contain  instructions  how  he  was  to  act  when  he 
arrived.  He  is  supposed  to  have  gone  thither  to 
intervene  in  a  very  serious  and  important  issue,  in 
which  two  bishops,  Januarius  of  Malaga  and  Stephen 
(whose  see  is  not  named  in  the  documents,  but  who 
Hartmann  identifies  with  a  bishop  of  Cartagena), 
were  involved.  They  had  been  tried  and  deposed, 
according  to  the  Pope,  in  a  cruel  and  unjust  manner 

1  E.  and  H.  ix.  229. 


CONDITION  OF  GAUL  UNDER  THE  FRANKS    139 

by  a  synod  of  bishops  acting  at  the  instigation  of 
a  Roman  official,  namely,  Comitiolus,  the  praefect 
of  the  Byzantine  possessions  in  Spain,  who  is 
called  a  Patrician  and  Magister  Militum.  The  three 
documents  entrusted  to  John  the  Defensor  are  a 
Capitolare,  or  schedule  of  instructions  in  regard  to 
the  case  to  be  tried,  and  the  process  of  investiga- 
tion ;  secondly,  a  collection  of  Imperial  laws  against 
which  the  opponents  of  the  appealing  bishops  had 
offended ;  and,  thirdly,  the  formula  according  to 
which  Januarius,  if  innocent,  was  to  be  acquitted.1 
In  case  they  were  found  to  be  innocent,  the  bishops 
who  had  tried  the  two  appellants,  and  consecrated 
the  successor  of  Januarius,  were  to  be  excommuni- 
cated, and  the  latter  was  to  be  sent  to  Rome  for 
punishment,  or  handed  over  to  Januarius  to  be  dealt 
with.  If  the  bishops  who  condemned  Januarius 
pleaded  that  they  had  acted  under  durance  their 
punishment  was  to  be  reduced.  In  regard  to 
Stephen,  the  defensor  John  was  to  see  that  the 
accusers  and  witnesses  had  been  different  persons, 
that  the  accused  had  been  duly  confronted  with  the 
witnesses  and  had  had  a  fair  opportunity  of  defend- 
ing himself,  and  to  inquire  whether  the  witnesses 
were  slaves,  poor  men,  or  men  of  bad  character,  or 
had  a  grudge  against  the  bishop.2  The  deposition 
of  the  bishops  had  taken  place  some  years  before, 
and  it  would  seem  that  Comitiolus  was  dead,  but 
it  was  to  be  insisted  upon  that  he  or  his  heirs 

1  E.  and  H.  xii.  47,  49,  50 ;  John  the  Deacon,  ii.  11. 

2  Dudden,  413. 


140  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

should  restore  the  episcopal  property  if  a  wrong 
had  been  done.  What  is  important  to  remember 
is  that  this  appeal  to  Rome  and  Gregory's  inter- 
vention had  nothing  to  do  with  any  jurisdiction  in 
the  Visigothic  part  of  the  peninsula,  and  only  refers 
to  the  maritime  district  still  subject  to  the  Emperor, 
whose  official  was  the  person  involved.  We  have 
no  satisfactory  evidence  that  Gregory  ever  exer- 
cised any  patriarchal  jurisdiction  in  any  part  of 
Spain  directly  subject  to  the  Visigoths. 

Let  us  now  turn  to  Gaul.  There  are  few  more 
difficult  things  than  to  realise  the  condition  of  Gaul 
at  this  time.  Like  "  India,"  which  is  a  most  in- 
definite term,  the  word  "  Gaul "  represented  a 
heterogeneous  collection  of  communities  united  by 
one  name,  but  differing  greatly  inter  se. 

The  so-called  barbarians  who  conquered  and 
occupied  it  in  the  fifth  century  are  treated  by  many 
as  if  they  were  very  much  alike  because  they 
came  from  beyond  the  Rhine  and  spoke  German. 
The  fact  is,  they  were  exceedingly  different  in 
temperament  and  habits.  The  Burgundians  and 
Visigoths,  like  the  Lombards,  were  Christians, 
although  Arians  (as  were  many  remarkable  men 
of  the  time),  and  readily  accepted  a  good  deal  of  the 
Roman  civilisation,  took  over  the  Roman  admini- 
stration, and  in  a  large  measure  also  its  laws. 
Thus  it  came  about  that  the  south  of  Gaul  where 
they  settled  soon  became  prosperous  and  cultured 
again,  as  those  words  were  understood  in  the 
sixth  century.  Provence  and  the  Rhone  valley,  in 


CHLOVIS  AND  HIS  DESCENDANTS         141 

fact,  passed  through  the  change  of  masters  with 
very  little  break  in  the  continuity  of  their  history. 

It  was  very  different  in  the  north  and  centre  of 
Gaul,  where  the  conquering  tribes  were  much  more 
ruthless  and  barbarous,  and  where  the  destruction 
of  the  old  civilisation  was  almost  complete.  There 
are  few  more  terrible  nightmares  in  history  than 
the  conquest  and  government  of  Northern  and 
Central  Gaul  by  the  Franks  under  the  first  dynasty 
of  their  long-haired  kings,  when  lust,  passion, 
murderous  cruelty,  rapine,  and  degradation  spread 
over  a  land  once  so  carefully  ruled  and  so 
prosperous  under  its  Roman  masters. 

Chlodowig,  generally  known  as  Chlovis,  the 
first  great  conquering  king  of  the  Franks,  died  in 
511,  after  successively  defeating  the  Alemanni,  the 
Burgundians  and  Visigoths,  and  reducing  them 
to  pay  tribute.  He  thus  became  virtually  master 
of  Gaul ;  the  only  exceptions  being  Provence  and 
Dauphine  (which  formed  part  of  the  Empire  of 
Theodoric),  the  north-western  peninsula  which  is 
now  known  as  Brittany,  and  the  province  of 
Septimania,  south  of  the  Garonne,  held  by  the  Visi- 
goths. Provence  and  Dauphine  were  ceded  to  the 
Franks  by  the  Ostrogothic  king,  Witiges,  for  a 
payment  of  .£80,000  in  the  year  536.  While  the 
Franks  thus  became  nominally  masters  of  nearly 
all  Southern  Gaul,  and  derived  a  considerable 
revenue  thence,  they  apparently  interfered  little 
with  the  administration.  The  population  remained 
largely  Roman  in  blood,  and  the  land  was  largely 


142  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

held  by  semi- Romanised  Burgundians  and  Visi- 
goths. The  real  Frank  land  was  North  and  North 
Central  Gaul. 

Chlodowig's  dominions  were  divided  among  his 
four  sons,  of  whom  Chlothachaire  or  Chlothaire, 
survived  the  rest.  In  560,  a  short  time  before  his 
death,  the  latter  reunited  the  Frank  empire  in  his 
own  hands. 

His  kingdom  was  again  divided  among  his 
four  sons.  Sigebert  took  Austrasia  or  Eastern 
Gaul,  including  the  cities  of  Rheims  and  Metz, 
with  a  large  extension  into  Germany.  With  this 
he  also  held  Provence,  and  some  territory  in  the 
borders  of  Aquitaine  and  Burgundy,  including  the 
city  of  "  Arverni "  (?Clermont).  Gunthrainn  or 
Guntran  took  Burgundy.  He  has  been  well  de- 
scribed as  a  stupid,  lecherous,  good-natured  man, 
with  many  mistresses,  the  last  of  whom  told  him 
on  her  death-bed  to  put  her  two  doctors  to  death, 
which  he  did  ;  but  he  was  kind  and  generous  to  his 
nephews  and  devoted  to  the  clergy,  and  is  highly 
praised  by  their  spokesmen.  Gregory  of  Tours 
says :  "  You  would  have  thought  him  a  priest  of 
God  as  well  as  a  king."  While  Fredegar,  another 
biassed  witness,  says:  "With  priests  he  showed 
himself  as  a  priest."  They  further  rewarded  him 
by  canonising  him  and  attributing  miracles  to  his 
relics.  Assuredly  a  very  queer  saint. 

Neustria  or  Normandy,  which  included  the  lands 
between  the  Loire  and  the  Meuse,  and  comprised 
the  Netherlands,  Picardy,  Normandy,  and  Maine, 


THE  DESCENDANTS  OF  CHLOVIS         143 

and  parts  of  Champagne  and  Brittany,  with  his 
capital  at  Soissons,  was  the  portion  of  Chilperic, 
a  vicious,  heartless  savage,  whom  Gregory  of  Tours 
calls  "the  Nero  and  Herod  of  our  time."1  He 
murdered  his  wife  and  two  sons  by  burning  them 
to  death,  and  blinded  many  people ;  and  in  imita- 
tion of  the  Roman  Emperors  built  amphitheatres 
at  Paris  and  Soissons,  where  he  showed  spectacles. 
He  hated  Church  dignitaries,  and  envied  their 
wealth.  "  Behold,"  he  used  to  say,  "our  riches  are 
transferred  to  the  Churches.  None  reign  at  all  save 
the  bishops.  Our  dignity  is  lost  and  carried  over 
to  the  bishops  of  the  cities."  He  used  habitually  to 
quash  wills  made  in  favour  of  the  Church.  The 
bishops,  when  passing  from  Burgundy  to  Neustria, 
used  to  say  it  was  like  going  from  heaven  to  hell. 
He  persecuted  the  Jews  and  crushed  his  people 
with  taxes.2  On  the  other  hand,  he  was  the  most 
cultured  of  his  race.  He  added  four  new  letters 
to  the  alphabet,  composed  prayers  and  hymns,  and 
wrote  two  volumes  of  poetry  in  imitation  of  Sedu- 
lius,  in  which  "the  quantities"  were  sadly  at  fault. 
He  also  wrote  a  learned  but  not  very  orthodox  book 
on  the  Trinity,3  and  finally  he  married  the  infamous 
harlot  Fredegundis,  who  had  been  his  mistress. 

Lastly,  the  province  of  Aquitaine  (roughly,  the 
territory  between  the  Loire  and  the  Pyrenees) 
fell  to  Charibert,  Chlodowig's  eldest  son,  with  his 
capital  at  Paris. 

1  Op.  cit.  vi.  46.  2  Ib.  and  vi.  22  ;  Dudden,  ii.  44. 

3  Gregory  of  Tours,  v.  45. 


144  SAIN7T  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

The  Merovingian  princes  were  chiefly  dis- 
solute, and  died  young ;  thus  Charibert  died  in  567, 
without  male  issue,  and  his  portion  was  shared  by 
his  three  brothers,  with  a  joint  interest  in  Paris. 

The  most  reputable  of  them  was  Sigebert,  who 
married  the  famous  and  beautiful  Brunichildis  or 
Brunhilda,  the  daughter  of  Athanigild,  the  king  of 
the  Spanish  Visigoths,  who  was  born  an  Arian,  but 
became  orthodox  on  her  marriage.  She  was  clever 
and  cultured,  and  a  masterful  woman,  but  suffered 
from  her  surroundings ;  and  in  fighting  for  power 
and  for  her  offspring  and  protege's  had  few  scruples 
or  tenderness. 

Sigebert  was,  no  doubt,  considerably  humanised 
by  the  influence  of  his  Visigothic  queen,  and  Metz 
in  their  time  became  a  great  centre  of  political 
and  other  influence.  Brunichildis,  as  Dr.  Bury 
says,  had  received  a  Roman  education,  and  had 
therefore  a  leaning  towards  the  Roman  Empire, 
and  maintained  a  friendly  intercourse  both  with 
the  old  and  the  new  Rome.1  Her  husband,  King 
Sigebert,  was  assassinated  in  575,  probably  at  the 
instigation  of  Fredegundis,  leaving  an  only  son, 
of  whom  his  widow  became  the  guardian  and  tutor. 
He  was  called  Childebert,  and  was  proclaimed 
King  of  Austrasia  by  the  nobles  on  the  death  of 
his  father,  being  then  five  years  old.  During  his 
reign  the  friendly  intercourse  between  the  kings  of 
Austrasia  and  the  Eastern  Empire  continued.  In 
their  correspondence  Maurice  called  him  son,  while 
1  Hist,  Later  Rom,  Emp.  ii.  160. 


THE  DESCENDANTS  OF  CHLOVIS         145 

he  called  Maurice  father.  I  have  described  how 
Maurice  offered  him  a  bribe  of  50,000  gold  pieces 
to  invade  Italy  and  attack  the  Lombards,  and 
thus  protect  the  Imperial  possessions  there.  He 
made  four  unsuccessful  attempts  to  do  so,  in  one 
of  which  his  army  was  slaughtered,  and  in  another 
it  suffered  greatly  from  pestilence. 

In  584  Chilperic,  the  infamous  King  of  Neus- 
tria,  was  murdered  at  Chelles,  near  Paris.  His 
widow,  Fredegundis,  was  the  Messalina  of  the 
Franks.  King  Guntran  of  Burgundy,  her  brother- 
in-law,  once  called  her  an  enemy  of  God  and  man.1 
She  was  one  of  the  most  cruel  and  vicious  women 
recorded  in  history.  On  the  murder  of  her  husband 
she  fled  to  the  court  of  Guntran,  who  had  ex- 
pressed such  a  mean  opinion  of  her,  and  offered 
him  the  regency  of  Neustria  on  behalf  of  her  boy, 
Chlothaire,  who  was  then  three  years  old,  which 
he  accepted. 

In  593  Guntran  died  childless,  and  his  own  king- 
dom of  Burgundy  passed  to  his  nephew  Childebert, 
King  of  Austrasia,  who  was  then  twenty-three  years 
old,  under  the  terms  of  the  Treaty  of  Andelot,  and 
he  thus  got  a  very  notable  accession  of  power. 
He  proceeded  to  reduce  the  borders  of  Neustria 
very  greatly,  leaving  it  only  the  coast  lands  of  Frisia, 
Flanders,  and  Normandy,  while  all  the  rest  of 
the  Frankish  territory  was  controlled  by  himself 
under  the  tutelage  of  his  strong-willed  mother. 

Having   thus  glanced  at   the    secular    history 

1  Greg.  Tur.  ix.  20. 


146  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

of  Gaul  at  this  time,  let  us  turn  to  the  state  of 
the  Prankish  Church.  The  Church  in  Gaul,  like 
the  State,  had  recently  passed  through  serious 
vicissitudes,  and  its  condition  was  very  different 
in  different  parts  of  the  country. 

During  the  fifth  and  earlier  parts  of  the  sixth 
century  the  famous  monastery  of  Lerins  had  formed 
a  focus  of  light  from  which  learning  and  religious 
zeal  had  permeated  the  country  in  various  direc- 
tions, and  we  can  hardly  doubt  that  during  the 
greater  part  of  this  period  the  valley  of  the  Rhone 
formed  the  most  attractive  part  of  Latin  Christen- 
dom. Lerins  was  a  kind  of  episcopal  seminary, 
where  many  of  the  saints  and  scholars  and  bishops 
who  mark  the  period  were  trained.  Things  had 
gone  gradually  worse  lately.  It  had  lost  some  of 
its  pristine  glory,  and  the  great  scholars  it  had 
turned  out  had  shrunk  considerably  in  numbers. 
This  was  partly  due  to  the  replacement  of  the 
tolerant  Burgundians  and  Visigothic  Arians  by  the 
rude  and  rough  Franks  (who  were  orthodox,  but 
exceedingly  ignorant  and  superstitious)  as  masters 
of  the  country.  Later  on  the  conquest  of  North 
Italy  by  the  Lombards  cut  off  that  peninsula  from 
any  but  intermittent  intercourse  with  Gaul,  and  the 
Gaulish  Church  became  very  isolated.  Still,  as  we 
shall  see,  there  were  good  men  left  among  the 
bishops  of  Southern  Gaul,  and  learning  was  by  no 
means  extinct.  What  had  sadly  gone  to  pieces 
was  the  discipline  of  the  clergy.  Widespread 
corruption  and  simony  existed,  which  became  some- 


CONDITION  OF  THE  PRANKISH  CHURCH      147 

what  later  appalling,  and  the  need  was  great  for 
some  controlling  influence  from  outside,  strong 
enough  to  induce  or  compel  the  barbarous  Prankish 
kings  and  their  nobles  to  cease  treating  the  Church 
as  an  object  of  mere  worldly  advancement,  and  its 
prizes  as  things  not  to  be  given  to  the  good  and 
learned,  but  to  be  scrambled  for  by  those  without 
any  vocation  for  the  priesthood,  who,  like  the  lay 
abbots  and  lay  bishops  of  a  later  date  in  Germany, 
had  lost  all  shame. 

The  fact  that  so  large  a  part  of  the  German 
tribes  who  had  overrun  the  Empire  were  Arians, 
made  the  orthodox  popes  very  tender  to  the  ill- 
doings  and  truculence  of  the  Franks,  which  were 
largely  condoned  because  they  also  were  orthodox. 
Thus  in  581  Pope  Pelagius,  writing  to  the  Bishop 
of  Auxerre,1  speaks  woefully  of  the  sufferings  of 
Italy,  and  reminds  his  correspondent  that  the 
Franks  were  members  of  the  Catholic  Church 
forming  one  body  under  one  head,  and  adds  that 
God  had  in  a  wonderful  manner  united  their  kings 

o 

to  the  Roman  Empire  in  the  confession  of  the 
orthodox  faith  in  order  to  provide  a  bulwark  for 
Italy,  and  especially  for  the  original  home  of  the 
Catholic  faith,  Rome.  He  begged  his  correspondent 
to  see  to  it  that  the  Frank  kings  did  not  ally  them- 
selves with  the  Church's  unspeakable  enemies  the 
Lombards,  and  thus  meet  condign  punishment  from 
heaven  with  them,  when  the  day  of  vengeance  came 
to  both. 

1  Pelag.  ii.  Ep.  iv. 


148  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

This  tenderness  to  the  Prankish  rulers,  which 
was  shared  by  Pope  Gregory,  led  him  especially  to 
tolerate  the  Erastian  theories  which  they  cultivated, 
and  their  continual  interference  with  the  administra- 
tion of  the  Church.  Meanwhile  the  most  shameful 
trafficking  in  livings  and  sees,  and  a  persistent 
opposition  to  reforms,  prevailed.  The  laxity  was 
especially  marked  in  the  centre  and  north  of  Gaul, 
and  Gregory  of  Tours  has  left  us  a  weird  picture  of 
the  condition  of  things,  all  the  more  weird  because 
he  was  such  an  uncompromising  champion  of  his 
Church. 

Professor  Bright  and  Mr.  Dudden  have  con- 
densed a  picture  of  the  state  of  the  Church  in  Gaul 
at  this  time,  based  on  a  series  of  examples  recorded 
by  him.  The  clergy  were  mostly  of  servile  origin 
(for  it  was  forbidden  to  ordain  a  freeman  without  the 
king's  permission),  and  they  had  the  peculiar  vices 
of  slaves — greed,  sensuality,  and  undue  subservi- 
ency to  the  temporal  rulers.  All  intellectual  move- 
ment was  at  a  standstill.  Simony  was  rife,  bishoprics 
were  given  away  by  Court  favour,  and  laymen  were 
ordained  to  wealthy  sees.  The  bishops  had  become 
landed  lords  and  courtiers.  They  meddled  in  politics, 
and  were  found  mixed  up  in  all  manner  of  discredit- 
able intrigues,  and  even  bloodshed.  They  oppressed 
their  parochial  clergy,  who,  in  return,  resisted  their 
authority  to  the  utmost,  and  formed  conspiracies 
against  them.  Owing  principally  to  the  jealousies 
and  dissensions  of  the  rival  kingdoms,  the  power  of 
the  metropolitans  had  declined.  Hence  the  bishops 


CONDITION  OF  THE  PRANKISH  CHURCH     149 

had,  to  a  great  extent,  emancipated  themselves  from 
all  control  and  rarely  met  in  synod.  In  the  sixth 
century  only  fifty-four  councils  were  held  in  Gaul ; 
in  the  seventh  only  twenty.  The  bishops  allied 
themselves  closely  with  the  kings,  of  whom  they 
became  the  counsellors  and  advisers,  and  whom,  in 
return  for  certain  concessions,  they  permitted  to 
encroach  upon  the  privileges  of  the  Church.  Thus 
in  all  that  concerned  its  relation  to  the  State,  the 
Church  had  lost  independence. 

The  excesses  of  the  clergy,  recorded  by  Gregory 
of  Tours,  were  astounding.  We  read  of  one  bishop 
who  was  so  addicted  to  wine  that  he  had  frequently 
to  be  carried  by  four  men  from  the  table,  and  who 
was  so  avaricious  that  he  made  no  scruple  of  annex- 
ing the  estates  of  his  neighbours.  When  one  of  his 
presbyters  refused  to  give  up  to  him  some  private 
property,  he  had  him  buried  alive  in  a  tomb  already 
occupied  by  a  putrefied  corpse.  He  was  utterly 
ignorant  of  all  literature,  and  paid  great  court  to 
the  Jews.  Another  prelate  used  to  become  so 
bestially  intoxicated  that  he  was  unable  to  stand  ;  a 
third,  on  suspicion  of  fraud,  violently  assaulted  his 
archdeacon  in  church  on  Christmas  Day ;  a  fourth 
set  himself  to  persecute  to  the  death  all  the  friends 
of  his  holy  predecessor ;  a  fifth  used  to  beat  his 
enemies  with  his  own  hands,  exclaiming,  "  Because 
I  have  taken  Orders,  am  I  therefore  to  forego  my 
revenge  ?  "  An  abbot,  mixed  up  in  many  robberies, 
assassinations,  and  other  crimes,  compelled  a  poor 
man  to  leave  his  house  in  order  that  he  might 


150  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

commit  adultery  with  his  wife,  and  was  killed  by 
the  outraged  husband.  A  cleric,  who  was  a  school- 
master, endeavoured  to  corrupt  the  mother  of  one 
of  his  pupils,  and  afterwards,  on  being  forgiven  by 
his  bishop,  conspired  with  an  archdeacon  to  murder 
his  benefactor.  Two  bishops  rode  armed  to  battle, 
and  killed  many  with  their  own  hands.  They 
attacked  with  armed  force  one  of  the  brethren 
while  he  was  celebrating  the  anniversary  of  his 
consecration,  tore  his  vestments,  killed  his  attend- 
ants, and  robbed  him  of  all  his  plate.  Many  persons 
in  their  own  dioceses  they  murdered. 

Queen    Fredegundis    deputed    two    clerics    to 
assassinate    Childebert — giving   them    knives  with 
hollow  grooves  in    the   blades  filled  with    poison  ; 
another  cleric  she  sent  to  make  away  with  Bruni- 
childis,  her  rival.     A  bishop  and  an  archdeacon  were 
accomplices  in  the  murder  of  Bishop  Praetextatus  in 
Rouen  Cathedral,  while  he  was  "leaning  on  a  form 
to  rest  himself"  during  the  Easter  service.    Though 
the  victim   shrieked  for  help,   none  of  the  clergy 
standing  by  went  to   his   assistance.     Gregory  of 
Tours  says  that  he  suppresses  some  episcopal  mis- 
deeds that  he  knows  of,  lest  he  should  be  thought  to 
speak  evil  of  his  brethren.     But  he  tells  us  quite 
enough  to  enable  us  to  gauge  the  character  of  the 
clergy  of  the  Prankish  Church.     Certainly  we  meet 
with  some  instances  of  noble  and  self-denying  men, 
such  as  Nicetius  of  Lyons,  Germanus  of  Paris,  and 
good  Bishop  Salvius,  who,   "when  constrained  to 
accept  money,  at  once  made  it  over  to  the  poor." 


VERGILIUS  AND  THEODORE  151 

But  as  a  whole  the  Gallican  clergy,  both  high  and 
low,  were  as  brutal  and  degraded  as  the  abandoned 
princes  and  nobles  among  whom  they  lived.  The 
Merovingian  society  was  utterly  and  abominably 
corrupt,  and  the  history  of  Gaul  at  this  period 
presents  a  record  of  horrors  and  crimes  unequalled 
in  the  annals  of  any  Western  nation.1  A  notable 
instance  of  the  corruption  and  simony  among  the 
clergy  is  mentioned  by  Gregory  of  Tours,2  where  he 
tells  us  that  a  certain  Eusebius,  in  591,  obtained 
the  See  of  Paris  after  presenting  many  gifts  (datis 
multis  muneribus)? 

As  we  have  seen,  when  Gregory  was  elected 
Pope,  there  had  arrived  at  Rome  a  representative  of 
his  namesake  the  Bishop  of  Tours.  On  his  return 
the  latter  took  back  with  him  "  a  golden,  i.e.  gilded, 
chair  "  for  use  in  his  church.3  Dr.  Bright  tells  us 
that  by  ancient  custom  in  Gallic  churches  (long 
kept  up  at  Orleans)  a  newly  consecrated  bishop,  on 
arriving  at  the  city,  was  placed  in  a  chair  and 
carried  on  the  shoulders  of  the  clergy  (humeris 
religiosorum)  or  nobles  (nobilium)  into  his  cathedral 
for  enthronement  At  Soissons  the  ritual  provided 
that  he  was  to  be  so  carried  by  the  Count  of  Soissons 
and  three  other  lords.  He  also  instances  how 
St.  Wilfred  at  a  later  date  was  similarly  carried  on 
a  golden  seat.  This  reminds  us  of  the  "sella  gesta- 
toria  "  of  the  Popes.4 

To  Aries,  the  famous  Roman  city  on  the  Rhone, 

1  Bright,  p.  487  ;  Dudden,  ii.  53-55.  *  Hist.  Fr.  x.  26. 

3  See  the  Benedictine  Life  of  Gregory,  iii.  3.  8. 

4  See  Bright,  op.  cit.  242  and  notes. 


152  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

had  been  generally,  though  not  universally,  conceded 
the  primacy  of  Gaul.  This  had  arisen  from  the 
tradition  that  it  was  at  Aries,  Christianity  was  first 
introduced  by  St.  Trophimus,  and  had  thence  spread 
over  the  country,  and  also  from  the  fact  that  Aries 
was  long  the  home  of  the  Prsefect  of  Gaul. 

In  Gregory's  time  the  Archbishop  of  Aries  was 
Vergilius,  who  well  sustained  the  fame  of  the  See 
of  Hilary  and  Ceesarius.  He  was  trained  at  Lerins, 
where  he  had  been  a  monk  and  abbot.1  He  was  a 
scholar,  and  is  said  to  have  built  the  churches  of 
St.  Stephen  in  the  city  of  Aries,  and  of  St.  Saviour 
and  St.  Honoratus  outside  its  walls.  He  was  styled 
Saint,  and  held  the  see  from  588  to  610. 

A  not  distant  neighbour  of  Vergilius  was 
Theodore,  Bishop  of  Marseilles,  who  was  also 
styled  Saint,  and  is  described  by  Gregory  of  Tours 
as  of  eminent  sanctity.  His  life  was,  however, 
a  troubled  one,  for  it  coincided  with  the  struggle  of 
Childebert  and  his  uncle  Guntran  for  the  posses- 
sion of  Marseilles.  He  was  cruelly  persecuted  by 
Guntran,  and  ill-used  by  his  own  clergy,  who  took 
the  side  of  the  Burgundian  king.  He  held  the 
see  from  575  to  about  594-2 

It  would  seem  that  Vergilius  and  Theodore  had 
sent  a  joint  letter  to  congratulate  Gregory  on  his 
accession  to  the  Papacy.  Gregory's  answer  is 
dated  in  June  591,  acknowledges  their  congratula- 
tions, and  also  mentions  that  certain  Jews  from 

1  Chron.  Lerin,  i.  87. 

2  E.  and  H.  i.  p.  71,  note  ;  Smith,  Dictionary  of  Christian  Bio- 
graphy•,  iv.  934. 


PATRIMONY  OF  THE  CHURCH  IN  GAUL     153 

the  Roman  province  who  had  visited  Marseilles 
on  business  had  complained  that  in  the  latter  dis- 
trict their  co-religionists  were  being  coerced  into 
Baptism,  instead  of  being  persuaded.  While  the 
Pope  praised  the  good  intention  at  the  back  of  the 
policy,  he  urged  that  the  result  must  be  to  make 
those  who  were  converted  in  this  fashion  presently 
return  to  their  old  superstitions,  and  be  more 
obstinate  than  ever.1  In  April  593  he  sent  a  letter 
to  Dinamius  the  Patrician,  who  was  the  Prankish 
governor  of  the  province  of  Marseilles,  and  who 
was  also  the  rector  or  guardian  of  the  patrimony  of 
St.  Peter  in  the  Marseilles  diocese.  The  patri- 
mony of  the  Holy  See  in  Gaul  was  divided  into 
two  portions,  situated  in  the  provinces  of  Marseilles 
and  Aries  respectively.  In  this  letter  Gregory 
acknowledges  the  receipt  by  the  hands  of  Hilary 
(probably  the  notary  so-called,  mentioned  in  several 
letters 2)  of  400  Gallic  solidi  (Gallicani  solidi}.  This 
sum  was  apparently  collected  from  the  patrimony  in 
the  diocese  of  Marseilles,  for,  according  to  Gregory 
of  Tours,  Dinamius  had  been  appointed  rector  of 
the  province  of  Marseilles  by  the  King  of  Austrasia.3 
The  Gallic  solidi  here  mentioned  were  lighter  than 
the  Byzantine  ones  in  the  proportion  of  21  to 
2  of  siliquae* 

The  Pope  sent  Dinamius  a  present  of  a  small 

1  E.  and  H.  i.  45.  2  Ib.  i.  73-75. 

3  Hist.  Fran.  vi.  7.  u,  and  Ven.  Fort.  Carm.  vi.  9.  10  ;  E.  and  H. 
i.  p.  191. 

*  I.e.  the  silver  coins  so  called.  See  E.  and  H.  op.  tit.  i.  p.  191, 
note  2. 


154  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

cross  containing  some  filings  from  the  chains  which 
had  bound  St.  Peter,  and  which  he  said,  if  carried 
about  his  neck,  would  keep  him  from  sin  for  ever 
(in  perpetuam  a  peccatis  solvant\  In  its  four  arms 
were  also  studded  portions  of  the  gridiron  (craticula) 
on  which  St.  Lawrence  was  burnt,  which  he  hoped 
might  cause  his  correspondent's  mind  to  glow  with 
the  love  of  God.1 

Shortly  after  this  the  Patrician  Arigius  was 
appointed  to  the  post  of  Governor  of  Marseilles, 
instead  of  Dinamius,  who  was  apparently  displaced 
by  King  Childebert.  He  undertook  to  look  after 
the  papal  patrimony  there  until  new  arrangements 
were  made. 

On  April  the  5th,  595,  the  Pope  in  a  letter  urges 
the  managers  of  the  papal  estates  and  farms  (con- 
ductores  massarum  sive  fundorum)  in  Gaul  to  be 
discreet  in  their  behaviour,  as  befitted  their  position 
as  officers  of  the  Church,  and  to  beware  of  plunder- 
ing or  ill-using  the  people.  He  says  that  he  had 
arranged  to  send  them  a  superintendent  or  con- 
troller (i.e.  Candidus,  vide  infra]  whose  journey  had 
been  hindered  by  the  winter.  Pending  his  arrival 
he  counsels  them  to  obey  the  Patrician  Arigius.2 

Aries,  as  we  have  seen,  had  been  generally 
conceded  the  primacy  of  Gaul,  and  it  had  been 
usual  in  earlier  times  for  its  archbishop  to  receive 
the  pallium  from  the  Pope.  Thus  it  had  been  sent 
to  Csesarius  by  Pope  Symmachus  to  Auxantius  and 
Aurelianus  by  Pope  Vigilius,  and  to  Sapaudus  by 

.tf.  2  Ib.  v.  31. 


ST.  GREGORY'S  LETTER  TO  CHILDEBERT     155 

Pope  Pelagius  the  First,1  while  as  early  as  417  Pope 
Zozimus  had  made  Patroclus  of  Aries  his  vicar.2 

We  now  find  Vergilius  writing  to  Rome  to  ask 
for  the  pallium,  according  to  ancient  custom,  while 
King  Childebert  his  master  supported  his  claim. 
It  would  seem  they  also  asked  that  Vergilius  might 
be  nominated  the  Apostolic  vicar  in  Childebert's 
dominions.  On  August  the  i2th,  595,  the  Pope 
wrote  several  letters  to  Gaul.  The  first  was  ad- 
dressed to  Vergilius.  In  it  he  said  that  it  was  well 
known  how  the  faith  in  Gaul  had  spread  from 
Aries,  and  he  then  proceeds  to  grant  what  the 
bishop  and  King  Childebert  had  asked  for. 

He  further  speaks  of  having  been  informed  by 
several  persons  that  in  parts  of  Gaul  and  Germany 
no  one  attained  to  Holy  Orders  without  paying 
for  them.  He  urges  the  necessity  of  stopping  the 
scandal,  and  adds  that  if  a  contention  should  arise  on 
matters  of  faith  or  other  matters  among  the  bishops, 
he  should  lay  the  matter  before  an  assembly  of 
twelve  of  them,  and  if  Vergilius  should  be  in  need  of 
the  judgment  of  the  Apostolic  See  to  strengthen  his 
own,  he  was  to  make  a  special  report  of  the  case,  so 
that  it  might  be  terminated  by  a  suitable  sentence.3 
In  another  letter,  addressed  to  the  bishops  of  Gaul, 
he  bids  them  be  diligent  in  attending  the  general 
synods  summoned  by  Vergilius,  and  if  any  one  was 
unavoidably  prevented  going  to  the  synod,  he  was 
to  send  a  priest  or  deacon  in  his  place  to  represent 

1  E.  and  H.  i.  p.  368,  note  2.  2  See  Dudden,  ii.  57. 

3  E.  and  H.  v.  58. 


156  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

him,  so  that  the  bishop  who  was  absent  should  be 
duly  informed  of  what  had  taken  place,  and  have 
no  excuse  for  not  complying  with  it.  He  concludes 
with  another  injunction  about  simony.1 

A  third  letter,  dated  the  I5th  of  August  595, 
was  sent  to  King  Childebert.  In  this  the  Pope  ac- 
knowledges the  receipt  of  his  appeal  in  support  of 
Vergilius,  and  reminds  him  that  he  had  sent  the 
latter  the  pallium,  and  also  constituted  him  Papal 
vicar,  in  his  kingdom,  i.e.  in  Austrasia,  Burgundy, 
and  Aquitaine.  He  begs  him  to  exercise  his 
power  to  put  down  scandals  among  the  priest- 
hood and  to  stop  the  appointment  of  bishops  who 
had  not  passed  through  a  previous  training  in  Holy 
Orders.  "  Those,"  he  urged,  "  who  had  been  made 
bishops  immediately  from  being  laymen,  continued 
to  be  laymen  in  speech  and  action  after  consecra- 
tion ;  and  thus,"  he  effectively  says,  "one  who  was 
never  a  pupil  himself  is  suddenly,  through  his  rash 
ambition,  made  a  master  to  others,  though  he  has 
never  learnt  what  he  has  to  teach."  How  could 
such  a  one  intercede  for  the  sins  of  others  who  had 
never  bewailed  his  own  ?  He  illustrates  his  view 
by  some  apt  phrases.  He  says  that  freshly-built 
walls  were  not  loaded  with  beams  until  they  were 
dry  and  had  had  time  to  settle,  for  fear  that  the 
whole  structure  might  collapse — similarly,  timber 
used  in  building  was  dried  and  seasoned  before  a 
weight  was  put  upon  it.  Again,  in  the  Royal  armies 
only  tried  men  were  made  into  generals,  why  in 

1  E.  and  H.  v.  59. 


LETTER  TO  THE  BISHOP  OF  SAINTES      157 

the  spiritual  host  should  those  command  who  had 
not  seen  the  beginning  of  warfare  ?  Gregory  pressed 
his  correspondent  to  put  down  simoniacal  promo- 
tions to  dioceses  or  cures  of  souls.  He  also  asks 
that  his  own  fellow-bishop  Vergilius  might  be  per- 
mitted to  carry  out  his  work  as  his  predecessors 
had  done  in  the  days  of  Childebert's  father,  and  he 
bids  him  do  this  for  the  sake  of  God  and  the 
blessed  Peter,  Prince  of  the  Apostles.1 

On  the  death  of  her  husband  Sigebert,  King  of 
Austrasia,  his  young  widow  Brunichildis  married 
Merovach,  the  son  of  her  brother-in-law  Chilperic, 
King  of  Neustria.  The  marriage  was  incestuous 
according  to  the  law  of  the  Church,  and  was  in 
other  ways  an  unhappy  one  for  Merovach,  who  was 
pursued  hither  and  thither  by  his  enraged  father 
Chilperic,  and  eventually  committed  suicide  or 
was  made  away  with  by  Fredegundis.  Presently 
Brunichildis  joined  her  son,  the  King  of  Metz, 
where  her  influence  became  supreme,  and  where 
she  played  the  part  of  a  great  queen. 

In  September  595  the  Pope  wrote  her  a  letter, 
couched  in  flattering  diplomatic  phrases,  in  which 
he  spoke  of  her  solicitude  for  the  spiritual  as 
well  as  the  worldly  welfare  of  her  kingdom,  of  her 
Christianity  and  her  love  for  Peter,  the  Prince 
of  the  Apostles.  He  commends  to  her  care  the 
priest  Candidus,  and  the  small  patrimony  of  the 
Holy  See  in  her  dominions,  over  which  he  had 
appointed  him  as  overseer,  with  the  duty  of  looking 

1  E.  and  H.  v.  60  ;  Dudden,  ii.  57,  58. 


158  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

after  it  and  of  recovering  such  portions  as  might 
have  been  lost  since  a  similar  officer  had  been  ap- 
pointed, which  was  some  time  before  (tot  tempora). 
He  begs  her  to  do  this,  that  St.  Peter  the  Apostle, 
who  had  the  power  of  binding  and  loosing  might 
give  her  joy  in  her  offspring  and  absolution  from 
all  ills  afterwards.1 

A  similar  letter  was  sent  to  her  son  Childebert. 
In  this  the  Pope  speaks  of  the  patrimony  in  question 
as  being  the  property  of  "  Peter,  the  Prince  of  the 
Apostles,"  and  says  he  had  appointed  Candidus  to 
take  charge  of  it  since  he  had  heard  that  Dinamius 
the  Patrician,  who,  on  his  recommendation,  had 
governed  it,  could  do  so  no  longer.  "  To  be  a 
king,'*  he  said,  "  is  nothing  extraordinary,  for  there 
are  other  kings  beside  you ;  but  to  be  a  Catholic, 
which  others  are  not  deemed  worthy  to  become — 
this  is  great  indeed."2  The  Pope  at  the  same  time 
sent  the  king  a  set  of  keys  of  St.  Peter,  containing 
a  portion  of  his  chains,  which,  as  we  have  seen, 
was  a  favourite  gift  of  his. 

In  July  596  we  find  the  Pope  writing  a  letter  to 
Palladius,  Bishop  of  Saintes  (Santonensi),  who  had 
informed  him  that  he  had  built  a  church  dedicated  to 
St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul,  and  to  the  martyrs  Lawrence 
and  Pancratius,  and  had  put  in  it  thirteen  altars, 
of  which  four  had  not  been  dedicated,  because  he 
desired  to  insert  in  them  some  relics  of  certain 
saints.  The  Pope  accordingly  sent  the  relics,  and 
bade  him  receive  them  with  reverence,  and  above 

1  E.  and  H.  vi.  $  ;  Barmby,  vi.  5.  *  Ib.  vi.  6. 


STATE  OF  GAUL  ON  CHILDEBERTS  DEATH    159 

all  to  provide  for  the  priests  ministering  at  the 
altars.1  He  also  sent  a  fresh  letter  to  Queen  Bruni- 
childis, who,  it  would  seem,  had  also  written  asking 
for  some  relics  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul,  and  bid- 
ding her  (as  he  bade  the  bishop)  see  that  they  were 
reverently  deposited,  and  that  those  in  attendance 
on  them  were  duly  provided  for.2 

About  this  time  we  find  Brunichildis  making 
strong  efforts  to  secure  the  pallium  for  her  favourite 
bishop,  Syagrius  of  Autun,  to  whom  she  was  ap- 
parently under  some  obligation.  It  is  probable  that 
he  was  of  noble  birth,  and  related  to  Syagrius,  the 
correspondent  of  Sidonius  Apollinaris.  He  had 
been  consecrated  by  St.  Germanus  of  Paris  about 
560,  and  acquired  great  influence  (probably  by  his 
courtlymanners,  tact,  and  culture)over  King  Guntran, 
and  now  over  Queen  Brunichildis.  He  became 
Bishop  of  Autun,  where  Vergilius,  now  Primate  of 
France,  had  been  archdeacon.  He  was  a  busy  pre- 
late, and  attended  numerous  councils.  St.  Ancharius 
of  Auxerre  was  his  disciple.  He  himself  was  styled 
Saint,  and  his  name-day  is  the  i7th  of  August. 
That  he  was  a  person  of  excellent  quality  may  be 
measured  by  the  opinions  recorded  of  him.  Gregory 
of  Tours  calls  him  venerabilis  et  egregius  antistes ; 
Gregory  the  Pope,  reverendae  memoriae  episcopus ; 3 
Venantius  Fortunatus,  dominus  sanctus  et  apostolica 
sede  dignissimus papa?  The  surprise  is  that  he  was 

1  E.  and  H.  vi.  48  ;  Barmby,  vi.  49. 

2  E.  and  H.  vi.  55  ;  Barmby,  vi.  50. 

3  E.  and  H.  xiii.  n. 

4  Migne,  Pat.  Lai.  Ixxxviii.  191. 


i6o 

never  given  one  of  the  metropolitan  sees,  of  which 
and  of  the  pallium  he  was  quite  worthy. 

We  now  reach  perhaps  the  most  disastrous  event 
in  Merovingian  history,  namely,  the  death  of 
Childebert,  King  of  Austrasia,  in  the  early  part  of 
596.  He  had  been  brought  up  by  his  mother  to 
learn  the  duties  of  a  sovereign,  and  he  shared  her 
wide  and  Imperial  views,  but  he  was  doubtless 
dissipated,  like  most  of  his  family,  and  died  young 
accordingly.  His  death  was  much  regretted  at  Rome, 
and  doubtless  also  at  Constantinople,  for  his  relations 
with  the  Emperor  Maurice  had  been,  as  we  have 
seen,  very  friendly.  He  left  two  sons,  both  illegiti- 
mate, who  were  quite  small  boys,  and  who  now 
succeeded  him.  Their  names  were  Theodebert  and 
Theodoric ;  the  former  took  Austrasia,  with  his 
capital  at  Metz,  and  the  latter  Burgundy,  with  his 
capital  at  Orleans,  and  also  resided  sometimes  at 
Chalon-sur-Saone.  They  were  respectively  ten  and 
nine  years  old,  and  were  under  the  tutelage  of  their 
strong-willed  grandmother  Brunichildis.1  As  Oman 
says  :  "  She  was  hated  as  a  Goth,  as  the  stirrer-up 
of  many  bloody  and  unsuccessful  wars,  and  as  the 
slayer  of  many  unruly  nobles  who  had  risen  against 
the  Crown  in  the  days  of  her  grandsons'  minority." 
The  whole  of  Gaul  was  now  under  the  rule  of  three 
children  (Neustria  being  subject  to  Chlothaire  the 
Second),  a  condition  of  things  almost  incredible,  and 
which  necessarily  led  to  the  disintegration  of  the 
whole  community  and  the  substitution  of  a  crowd 

1  Fredegar,  ch.  xvi. 


SAINT  GREGORY'S  LETTER  TO  DINAMIUS      161 

of  predatory  nobles,  each  one  virtually  his  own 
master,  for  the  one  mailed  fist.  Notwithstanding 
Brunichildis'  skill,  resources,  and  courage,  she  had 
not  the  necessary  forces  to  save  such  a  state  from 
eventual  anarchy  and  chaos. 

Gaul  had  been  torn  in  pieces  for  years  past  by 
the  civil  strife  of  the  two  queens  Brunichildis  and 
Fredegundis,  the  wife  of  Chilperic,  King  of  Neustria, 
the  latter  of  whom,  as  we  have  seen,  was  an  intoler- 
able woman,  consumed  by  lust  and  violent  passions, 
while  her  crimes  form  a  notable  chapter  both  of 
history  and  romance.  She  died  in  597,  after  hav- 
ing unsparingly  used  poison  and  the  dagger  upon  all 
who  thwarted  her.  It  is  ominous  of  her  character 
that  Pope  Gregory  never  mentions  her.  Her  young 
son,  Chlothaire  n.,  after  sustaining  an  unequal  fight 
against  the  sons  of  Childebert,  was  now  reduced  to 
rule  over  a  portion  only  of  Neustria,  namely,  that 
which  was  bounded  by  the  Seine,  the  Oise,  and  the 


sea.1 


Dinamius,  above  mentioned,  had  retired  into 
private  life,  and  with  his  sister  Aureliana  had 
devoted  himself  to  good  works,  and  had  endowed 
the  Convent  of  St.  Cassian  at  Marseilles,  which 
they  had  perhaps  founded  in  some  private  build- 
ings of  their  own.  Gregory,  in  a  letter  written  in 
October  596,  at  their  request,  granted  to  Respecta, 
its  abbess,  certain  privileges,  namely,  that  on  the 
death  of  any  abbess  there,  she  should  be  succeeded 

1  Duodecim  tantum  pagi  inter  Esara  (Oise)  et  Secona  (Seine)  et 
marc  litores  Oceani  Chlothario  remanserunt.     Fredegar,  ch.  xx, 
U 


1 62  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

not  by  a  stranger,  but  by  one  elected  from  among 
its  members,  whom  the  bishop  of  the  place  should 
ordain.  He  further  provided  that  no  bishop  or 
other  ecclesiastic  should  have  any  power  over  the 
property  of  the  nunnery,  but  it  should  be  under 
the  complete  control  of  the  abbess  for  the  time 
being.  If,  again,  on  the  Saint's  anniversary  or  the 
dedication  of  the  convent,  the  bishop  should  go 
thither  to  celebrate  Mass,  the  Office  must  be  so 
arranged  that  his  throne  (cathedra]  should  only 
be  put  in  the  chapel  on  the  days  when  he  was 
saying  Mass,  and  on  his  departure  it  should  be 
removed  from  the  same  (de  oratorio].  On  other 
days  the  Mass  was  to  be  said  by  the  priest  who 
the  bishop  should  appoint.  On  the  other  hand,  he 
provided  that  the  bishop  was  to  punish  the  abbess 
or  nuns  according  to  the  rigour  of  the  recent  canons, 
if  any  of  them  should  commit  a  fault  demanding 
punishment.  The  Pope  concludes  by  an  exhorta- 
tion that  the  abbess  should  show  zeal  in  so  ordering 
her  congregation  that  the  malice  of  the  malignant 
might  not  be  aroused.1 

In  May  597  the  Pope  wrote  to  his  rector  in 
Gaul,  Candidus,  to  say  he  had  heard  from  a  certain 
Dominican  that  his  four  brothers,  who  had  been 
redeemed  from  slavery  by  the  Jews,  were  now 
detained  in  their  service  at  Narbonne,  which  was 
then  in  the  land  of  the  Visigoths.  He  told  him 
that  it  was  shameful  for  Christians  to  be  thus 
living  as  servants  in  a  Jewish  house,  and  that  he 

1  E.  and  H,  vii.  12  ;  Barmby,  vii.  12. 


ST.  GREGORY'S  LETTER  TO  BRUNICHILDIS     163 

should  use  due  diligence  to  have  them  redeemed 
and  released.1  The  Visigothic  laws  of  King 
Reccared  specially  forbade  the  holding  of  Christians 
in  servitude  by  Jews.2  In  July  597  Gregory  again 
wrote  to  Dinamius  the  Patrician  and  his  sister 
Aureliana  acknowledging  their  letter  and  the  re- 
ligious zeal  which  it  showed,  and  promising  that 
when  it  was  completed  he  would  send  them  the 
book  for  which  they  had  asked.8 

In  September  of  the  same  year  the  Pope  wrote 
to  Brunichildis  praising  her  Christian  fervour,  and 
telling  her  that  in  accordance  with  her  expressed 
wish  he  had  greatly  desired  to  confer  the  pallium 
on  the  Bishop  of  Autun  (who,  be  it  remembered, 
was  only  a  suffragan  bishop,  while  his  Metropolitan, 
the  Archbishop  of  Lyons,  had  not  himself  received 
it).  The  Pope  said  he  had  now  got  the  Emperor's 
consent  through  his  agent  at  Constantinople.  He 
goes  on  to  say  that  many  good  reports  had  reached 
him  about  Syagrius,  and  especially  from  "John 
the  Regionarius"  \  "but,  "added  the  Pope,  "there 
had  been  many  hindrances."  In  the  first  place,  the 
person  who  had  been  sent  for  the  pallium  was  im- 
plicated in  the  error  of  schism  (i.e.  probably  in 
regard  to  the  Three  Chapters),  next,  the  queen 
wished  the  distinction  to  come  from  the  Pope  him- 
self, and  not  at  her  suggestion,  while  the  bishop,  for 
whom  it  was  desired,  had  not  asked  for  it,  which 
had  been  hitherto  a  condition  of  granting  it.  Inas- 

1  See  Greg,  of  Tours,  vii.  21. 

2  See  E.  and  H.  i.  p.  464,  note.  3  Ib.  vii.  33. 


1 64  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

much,  however,  as  he  was  wishful  to  comply  with 
her  request,  he  had  sent  it  to  the  rector,  Candidus, 
charging  him  to  deliver  it  in  the  Pope's  stead. 
Syagrius  was  in  the  meanwhile  to  draw  up  a 
petition  with  the  other  bishops,  and  give  it  to 
Candidus.  He  then  goes  on  to  press  her  not 
to  allow  any  one  in  her  dominion  to  obtain  Holy 
Orders  by  bribes  or  by  any  one's  patronage  or 
relationship,  but  only  to  let  such  be  elected  to  the 
episcopate  or  other  offices  as  most  deserved  it  by 
their  life  and  manners,  for  it  was  a  wicked  thing  to 
sell  the  Holy  Spirit.  Nor  was  she  to  suffer  a  lay- 
man to  be  consecrated  as  a  bishop,  nor  until  by 
long  practice  he  had  learnt  what  to  imitate  and 
what  to  teach. 

The  Pope  goes  on  to  beg  her  to  recall  to  the 
unity  of  the  faith  those  schismatics  who  had  severed 
themselves  from  the  Church,  and  explains  that  he  re- 
fers explicitly  to  the  question  of  the  Three  Chapters. 
His  words  are  worth  quoting.  "As  for  us,"  he 
says,  "we  venerate  and  follow  in  all  respects  the 
Synod  of  Chalcedon,  whence  they  take  to  them- 
selves the  clouds  of  a  pestiferous  excuse  (pestiferae 
nebulas  excusationis  adsumwU\  and  we  anathe- 
matise all  who  presume  to  diminish  or  add  to  them. 
"  They,"  he  says  (meaning  the  schismatics),  "reject 
the  Universal  Church,  and  all  the  four  Patriarchs  " 
(omnes  quatuor patriarchas  .  .  .  refugianf).  "He 
who  had  been  sent  for  the  pallium,  when  he  was 
asked  why  he  stood  separated  from  the  Universal 
Church,  acknowledged  that  he  did  not  know," 


ST.  GREGORY'S  LETTER  TO  BRUNICHILDIS     165 

Lastly,  Gregory  begs  the  queen  to  restrain  her 
subjects  from  sacrificing  to  idols,  worshipping  trees, 
or  exhibiting  sacrilegious  sacrifices  of  the  heads  of 
animals  (ut  idolis  non  immolent,  cultores  arborum 
non  existant,  de  animalium  capitibus  sacrificia  sacri- 
lega  non  exhibeanf),  because  he  had  heard  that  many 
of  the  Christians  combined  going  to  church  with 
the  worship  of  demons.    This  he  begs  her  to  do  for 
fear  that  baptism,  instead  of  rescuing  them,  should 
rather  add  to  their  punishment.     He  bade  her  also 
speedily  punish  the  violent,  the  adulterous,  and  the 
thief.     In  regard  to  the  volume  she  had  asked  for 
he  had  sent  it,  and  had  asked  his  representative, 
Candidus,  to  give  it  to  her,  and  he  concluded  with 
commending  her  to  the  protection  of  the  Almighty.1 
This  is  a  very  interesting  letter  for  many  reasons. 
In  the  first  place,  it  shows  that  the  distant  emperor 
still  claimed  the  right  to  veto  the  giving  of  the 
pallium,  in  the  case  of  sees  not  previously  so  dis- 
tinguished.    Secondly,  it  shows  that  the  Church  in 
Gaul  at  this   time    was   largely  permeated    if  not 
entirely   devoted    to   the    so-called    heresy   of   the 
Three  Chapters.    Thirdly,  it  proves  what  a  survival 
of  paganism  there  still  was  among  the  reputedly 
Christian  Franks.     This  survival  was  especially  pre- 
valent among  the  rustics  of  Austrasia  and  Maritime 
Neustria.      It  is  interesting  to  note  how  vigorous 
Brunichildis  continued  to  be  at  this  time.     "Vigilant 
and  alert,  she  was  ever  travelling  restlessly  around 
the  borders  of  the  realm  spying  out  rebels  to  crush, 

1  E.  and  H.  viii.  4. 


1 66  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

building  roads   and   castles,   keeping   a   wary  eye 
upon  every  count  and  bishop."1 

It  is  some  time  before  Gregory  is  again  found 
corresponding  with  Gaul.  In  May-June  599,  he 
wrote  to  Desiderius,  the  Bishop  of  Vienne,  about  a 
certain  Pancratius,  the  bearer  of  the  letter,  who  was 
a  papal  deacon  (diaconus  apostolorum),  and  now 
wished  to  become  a  monk,  but  the  bishop  had  put 
some  pressure  on  him  to  remain  a  secular.  The 
Pope  urged  him  not  to  oppose  the  man's  wish, 
which  was  merely  to  retire  from  the  Church  militant 
to  a  more  peaceful  one.2  This  shows  how  the 
Pope's  heart  was  still  glowing  warmly  for  the  ascetic 
against  the  secular  form  of  the  religious  life. 

At  this  time  we  find  him  sending  an  important 
personage  to  Gaul  with  letters  to  the  various 
bishops,  and  with  the  special  commission  to  restore 
the  lost  discipline  of  the  Church  there  in  regard  to 
simony,  etc.  This  was  Cyriacus,  who  was  then  the 
Abbot  of  St.  Andrew's,  and  therefore,  no  doubt, 
specially  trusted  by  Gregory.  Among  others  to 
whom  he  commended  him  was  Serenus,  Bishop  of 
Marseilles,  to  whom  he  wrote  in  July  599.  In  his 
letter  the  Pope  takes  the  opportunity  of  rebuking 
the  bishop  for  having  broken  and  cast  out  certain 
images  or  perhaps  pictures  (imagines)  in  churches 
which  he  had  found  people  were  adoring.  While 
commending  his  zeal  in  preventing  objects  made 
with  hands  from  becoming  the  subject-matter  of 
worship,  he  blames  him  for  breaking  the  images, 
1  See  Oman,  op.  cit,  163.  3  E.  and  H.  ix.  157. 


VERGILIUS,  BISHOP  OF  ARLES  167 

since  pictorial  representations  were  made  use  of  in 
churches,  so  that  those  ignorant  of  letters  might 
read,  by  looking  at  the  walls,  what  they  could  not 
read  in  books,  and  he  tells  him  he  ought  to  have 
preserved  the  images  and  rebuked  the  people.1 

Cyriacus  also  carried  letters  for  other  bishops ; 
one  of  them  was  addressed  to  Vergilius,  Bishop  of 
Aries.  This  was  apparently  inspired  by  some  one  at 
Aries.  It  recalls  that  King  Childebert  had  founded 
a  monastery  for  men  there,  and  endowed  it  with 
certain  property,  and  in  order  to  ensure  that  his 
purpose  might  be  fully  carried  out,  and  that  the 
monks  should  not  be  disturbed,  he  had  requested 
the  Holy  See  to  confirm  his  grant  and  to  confer 
certain  privileges  on  the  monastery,  both  in  the 
management  of  its  affairs  and  the  appointment  of 
the  abbot.  This  he  did  because  he  felt  that  what 
had  been  settled  by  the  Apostolic  See  no  exercise 
of  unlawful  usurpation  would  afterwards  molest. 
The  Pope  says  that  in  furtherance  of  this  wish  his 
own  predecessor  Vigilius  had  written  to  Aurelius, 
the  previous  Bishop  of  Aries,  supporting  with 
apostolical  authority  what  was  intended  to  be  done. 
He,  Gregory,  now  wrote  to  remind  Vergilius  of 
what  Aurelius  had  done,  and  to  confirm  it.2 

In  another  letter  of  the  same  date,  addressed 
to  Arigius,  Bishop  of  Gap,  consoling  him  for  the 
death  of  some  of  his  relatives,  the  Pope  goes  on  to 
say  he  had  been  informed  that  when  the  bishop 

1  E.  and  H.  ix.  208;  Barmby,  ix.  105. 

2  E.  and  H.  ix.  216  ;  Barmby,  ix.  ill. 


1 68  SAINT  GREGORY  THEfGREAT 

was  at  Rome  he  had  asked  that  he  and  his  arch- 
deacon might  be  permitted  to  wear  dalmatics. 
This  had  been  delayed  because  of  the  sickness 
already  named,  and  because  the  Pope  did  not 
wish  to  concede  a  new  thing  inconsiderately  and 
suddenly.  He  now  granted  the  demand,  and  sent 
the  dalmatics  by  the  hands  of  the  Abbot  Cyriacus. 

The  journey  of  Cyriacus  was  directed  especially 
to  Autun,  for  whose  bishop  he  was  taking  the 
long-promised  pallium.  The  Pope  had  granted 
this  on  condition  that  he  would  summon  a  synod 
to  put  down  the  crime  of  simony,  to  prevent  laymen 
from  receiving  ecclesiastical  appointments,  and 
women  living  in  the  houses  of  clerics ;  and  he 
desired  Syagrius  and  also  Arigius,  the  Bishop  of 
Gap,  to  write  and  inform  him  by  letter  of  all  its 
proceedings.1 

While  Brunichildis  was  entirely  devoted  to  her 
bishop,  Syagrius  of  Autun,  she  was  implacable 
towards  another  prelate,  one  of  the  four  Metro- 
politans of  Gaul,  namely,  Desiderius,  Archbishop 
of  Vienne,  who  had  denounced  her  incestuous 
marriage  with  her  nephew.  She  accordingly 
thwarted  him  in  every  way  she  could,  and  eventu- 
ally, after  the  death  of  Gregory,  had  him  put 
to  death.  Vienne  was  once  the  capital  of  the 
ancient  Provincia  Viennensis.2  When  the  praetorian 
praefect  of  Gaul  removed  his  quarters  thence  to 
Aries,  the  latter  became  the  metropolis,  soon  after 
which  the  Bishop  of  Aries  began  to  be  decorated 

1  E.  and  H.  ix.  219.  2  Not.  Gall.  xi.  3. 


LETTER  TO  BISHOP  DESIDERIUS          169 

with  the  pallium  by  the  Pope.1  There  was  therefore 
a  good  deal  of  prima  facie  plausibility  in  the  claim 
set  up  by  the  See  of  Vienne,  and  long  maintained, 
of  its  primacy  over  Aries,  and  in  its  bishop  asking  for 
the  pallium  for  himself.  Desiderius  urged  upon  the 
Pope  that  his  predecessors  had  had  it  in  former  times 
(usum  pallii  ejus  sacer dotes  antiquitus  habuisse)? 

While  the  Pope  would  doubtless  have  con- 
ceded the  pallium  to  so  famous  a  man  and  to  so 
famous  a  see,  he  was  afraid  of  exasperating  Queen 
Brunichildis,  so  he  had  to  temporise.  In  a  letter 
written  to  him  in  July  599,  he  says  he  had  been 
informed  by  the  Regionarius  John,  of  the  ancient 
privileges  conferred  on  Vienne  by  the  Holy  See, 
including  the  use  of  the  pallium.  He  had,  accord- 
ingly, had  the  register  searched,  but  had  found 
no  evidence  there ;  if  any  were  forthcoming  he 
would  attend  to  it  (Nam  qui  nova  concedimus, 
vetera  libentissime  reparamus}?  This  was  evidently 
an  evasion.  In  a  short  letter  of  the  same  date 
to  Candidus,  the  rector  of  the  patrimony,  he  bids 
him,  if  he  can,  to  help  a  Gallic  priest  called 
Aurelius  who  desired  to  have  charge  of  an  oratory 
(oratorium,  i.e.  a  chapel),  or  undertake  a  charge  of 
a  priest  or  abbot.4 

As  a  result  of  the  struggle  between  the  Lombards 
and  the  Franks,  certain  parishes  had  been  detached 
from  the  diocese  of  Turin  (Taurina)  and  formed  by 
King  Guntran  into  the  new  See  of  St.  Jean  de 

1  E.  and  H.  ix.  220,  note.  3  Ib.  ix.  220. 

3  Ib.  ix.  220.  4  Ib.  ix.  221. 


170  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

Maurienne,  subject  to  the  Franks.  Gregory  accord- 
ingly wrote  to  Syagrius  about  it.  I  n  his  letter  he  says 
that,  after  the  captivity  and  plunder  of  the  Bishop 
of  Turin,  he  had  suffered  serious  prejudice  in  his 
parishes  (in  parochiis  suis]  which  were  within  the 
boundaries  of  the  Franks,  even  to  the  extent  of 
another  person  having  been  constituted  bishop  there 
without  his  having  committed  any  crime,  and  had 
also  been  deprived  of  the  property  of  his  church, 
while  an  innocent  priest  had  been  removed  from  his 
altar.  The  Pope  entreats  Syagrius,  therefore,  to 
protect  him,  and  to  see  that  no  wrong  was  done  to 
him.  He  was  to  act  in  the  matter  not  only  on  his 
own  initiative,  but  by  a  special  appeal  to  the  two 
young  kings.1 

This  letter  the  Pope  supported  by  one  addressed 
to  the  two  latter  rulers,  recalling  the  facts  to  them, 
begging  them  to  make  due  inquiry  and  to  correct 
the  wrong  by  restoring  to  the  Bishop  of  Turin,  who 
was  called  Ursicinus,  the  parishes  formerly  in  his 
see,  and  also  the  property  belonging  to  them.  Nor 
should  the  fact  of  his  church  being  detained  for  the 
present  by  his  enemies  be  at  all  to  his  disadvantage.2 
As  Mr.  Dudden  says,  the  Pope's  suggestion  was  im- 
practicable. It  was  not  reasonable  to  suppose  that 
in  those  days,  when  bishops  were  so  powerful,  a 
ruler  would  allow  a  portion  of  his  territory  to  be 
under  the  ecclesiastical  supervision  of  a  foreign 
bishop.  A  Prankish  king  might  reasonably  think 

1  E.  and  H.  ix.  214,  and  note  ;  Barmby,  ix.  115. 

2  E,  and  H.  ix.  226  ;  Barmby,  ix.  116. 


SAINT  GREGORY'S  LETTERS  TO  SYAGRIUS      1 7 1 

that  if  the  churches  were  restored  the  parishes 
would  presently  be  claimed  by  the  Duke  of  Turin 
as  part  of  his  dominions.  Gregory's  remonstrance 
was  therefore  of  no  effect,  and  the  diocese  of 
Maurienne  continued  to  be  a  thorn  in  the  side  of 
the  Lombard  prelate.1 

In  another  letter  to  Syagrius  he  writes,  with 
regard  to  two  refractory  bishops,  namely,  Menas  of 
Toulon,  on  whom  he  makes  a  pun,  illi  episcopatus 
nomen  non  sit  in  honore  sed  onere,  and  adds  that  he 
was  a  very  secular  person  and  had  gone  to  Gaul. 
The  other,  Theodore,  who  belonged  to  the  Province 
of  Milan,  had  also  gone  to  Gaul  to  escape  from 
the  discipline  he  had  incurred.  The  Pope  begs 
Syagrius  to  see  to  it  that  both  of  them  were  sent 
back  to  Italy  to  be  duly  dealt  with.2  It  is  curious  that 
the  two  letters  to  Syagrius  just  cited  should  have 
been  written  to  one  who,  however  great  his  prestige, 
was  not  a  Metropolitan,  and  only  a  simple  bishop. 

In  another  letter  addressed  to  the  same  bishop 
and  of  the  same  date,  the  Pope  speaks  highly  of  the 
reputation  of  his  correspondent.  He  goes  on  to 
say  that  in  accordance  with  his  request  he  had  sent 
him  the  pallium,  to  be  used  in  the  celebration  of 
Mass  only,  and  he  was  to  have  it  on  condition 
that  he  would  summon  a  synod  to  correct  the  things 
of  which  he  had  complained.  While  the  granting  of 
the  pallium  was  not  to  interfere  with  the  Metro- 
politan authority  of  the  Church  of  Lyons,  it  was  to 
be  understood  as  conferring  on  his  diocese  of  Autun 

1  Dudden,  ii.  77.  2  E.  and  H.  ix.  223. 


172  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

and  himself,  as  bishop,  the  first  place  immediately 
after  Lyons.  The  other  bishops  were  to  take  rank 
according  to  the  dates  of  their  ordination,  whether 
in  sitting  in  synod  or  subscribing  their  names,  etc., 
and  he  ends  up  by  hoping  that  his  increase  of 
dignity  would  be  marked  by  increased  zeal.1  The 
conferring  of  the  pallium  on  Syagrius,  while  it  was 
withheld  from  others  having  Metropolitan  rank,  is 
a  proof  of  the  extent  to  which  Gregory  carried  his 
courtly  deference  to  Brunichildis.  In  a  similar  letter 
of  the  same  date  addressed  by  the  Pope  to  Syagrius 
of  Autun,  Etherius  of  Lyons,  Vergilius  of  Aries, 
and  Desiderius  of  Vienne  (let  it  be  noted  that 
Syagrius  is  mentioned  first),  he  says  he  approaches 
them  by  his  present  writings,  in  accordance  with  the 
apostolic  institutes,  so  that,  leaning  on  the  rules  of 
the  Fathers  and  the  Lord's  commands  (the  order  of 
the  words  is  curious),  they  might  put  away  avarice. 
He  goes  on  to  say  how  he  had  long  heard  of  the 
simoniacal  practices  prevailing  in  Gaul,  and  adds 
that  one  who  buys  an  ecclesiastical  office  covets  not 
to  be  a  priest,  but  to  be  called one.  It  prevents  there 
being  any  trial  of  a  man's  conduct,  any  carefulness 
about  his  moral  character,  or  any  inquiry  into  his  life, 
and  shows  that  he  alone  is  deemed  worthy  who  can 
pay  the  price.  He  calls  attention  to  this  being  the 
oldest  of  all  heresies,  and  one  which  was  specially 
condemned  by  the  apostles  (i.e.  in  the  case  of  Simon 
Magus).  In  regard  to  those  who  argued  that  the 
price  paid  in  such  cases  accrued  to  the  advantage 

1  E.  and  H.  ix.  222. 


SAINT  GREGORY'S  LETTERS  TO  SYAGRIUS     173 

of  the  poor,  he  said  that  it  could  not  be  accounted 
almsgiving  when  that  was  dispensed  to  the  poor 
which  was  got  by  unlawful  dealings.  If  hospitals 
and  monasteries  were  built  with  the  price  of  sacred 
"orders,"  it  did  not  profit,  for  he  who  buys  does 
more  harm  than  he  who  dispenses  the  price.  All 
simoniacal  heresy,  under  guise  of  almsgiving,  was 
therefore  to  be  abjured. 

The  Pope  then  goes  on  to  reprobate  another 
practice  prevalent  in  Gaul,  and  already  mentioned, 
namely,  the  sudden  elevation  of  laymen  into 
bishops  without  passing  through  the  lower  orders. 
He  also  calls  attention  to  the  practice  of  women 
living  with  those  in  sacred  orders,  and  holds  that 
they  must  have  no  women  living  with  them  save 
those  whom  the  sacred  canons  allowed.  Lastly,  to 
prevent  dissensions,  he  urges  that  priests  should 
assemble  together  sometimes,  so  that  there  might  be 
discussion  about  cases  that  arose,  and  salutary  con- 
ference about  ecclesiastical  observances,  and  points 
out  that  by  the  rules  of  the  Fathers  a  synod  was  to 
be  held  twice  annually,  or  at  least  once  without  fail, 
so  that  nothing  wrong  or  unlawful  might  be  ventured 
upon  while  a  council  was  being  delayed,  and  adjures 
them  to  keep  this  regulation  for  their  posterity. 
He  accordingly  asks  them  to  summon  a  general 
synod.  This,  he  counselled,  should  be  held  under 
the  presidency  of  Arigius,  the  Bishop  of  Gap  (which 
seems  a  mistake  for  Syagrius  of  Autun),  and  the 
Abbot  Cyriacus.  At  such  a  gathering  all  things 
opposed  to  the  sacred  canons  should  be  condemned, 


174  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

and  notably  the  matters  above  named,  concerning 
all  of  which  Bishop  Syagrius  and  Cyriacus  were  to 
fully  inform  him.1  The  synod  was  apparently  either 
not  summoned,  or  inefficient,  for  we  presently  find 
the  Pope  again  writing  about  the  same  abuses. 

At  the  same  time,  with  the  above  letter,  a  second 
one  was  sent  to  the  two  young  Prankish  kings, 
Theodebert  and  Theodoric,  in  which  he  also  de- 
nounces the  simony  already  mentioned.  He  further 
complains  of  certain  churches  which  had  been  re- 
lieved from  paying  taxes  having  to  pay  them  in 
another  way  in  the  form  of  bribes,  and  he  also 
reprobates  the  sudden  promotion  of  laymen  to  be 
bishops,  and  consequently  asks  the  kings,  as  a  great 
gift  to  God,  to  order  a  synod  to  be  summoned,  in 
which  it  might  be  ordained,  in  the  presence  of 
Cyriacus,  that  these  things  should  be  condemned 
and  stopped.  He  also  expressed  his  distress  that 
Jews  were  allowed  to  keep  Christian  slaves  in 
their  kingdoms,  and  asks  them  to  issue  an  ordin- 
ance on  the  subject.2 

Lastly,  Gregory  sent  a  letter  to  Brunichildis,  the 
strong-willed  grandmother  of  the  two  boys  and  the 
real  ruler  of  Gaul,  which  is  phrased  in  diplomatic 
and  complimentary  terms,  in  which  he  calls  atten- 
tion to  the  same  abuses  and  asks  that  the  synod 
upon  which  his  heart  was  so  set  might  be  summoned 
in  the  presence  of  Cyriacus,  when  these  things 
should  be  forbidden.  The  Pope  tells  her  he  has 

1  E.  and  H.  ix.  218  ;  Barmby,  ix.  106. 
*  E.  and  H.  ix.  215  ;  Barmby,  ix.  no. 


LETTER  TO  VERGILIUS  AND  SYAGRIUS      175 

taken  special  care  to  delegate  the  management  of 
this  synod  to  Syagrius,  "who,"  he  says,  "we  know 
to  be  peculiarly  your  own,"  and  begs  her,  therefore, 
to  lend  a  willing  ear  to  his  supplication  on  this 
account.  Because  he  had  shown  great  zeal  in 
the  English  mission  (vide  infra),  he  had  sent  him  a 
pallium  as  a  reward  and  encouragement,  and  he 
concludes  with  a  renewed  mention  about  the  em- 
ployment of  Christian  servants  by  Jews.1 

In  another  letter  of  this  date,  written  to  Ver- 
gilius,  Bishop  of  Aries,  and  Syagrius  of  Autun  in 
regard  to  a  certain  Syagria  (probably  a  lady  of 
rank),  who,  having  entered  a  religious  house  and 
even  changed  her  habit,  had  been  forced  to  marry ; 
he  charges  that  they  had  failed  to  interfere  in  her 
defence.  He  plainly  tells  them  that  if  this  was  so 
they  were  rather  hirelings  than  shepherds,  and  bids 
them  exhort  the  woman,  so  that  she  might  make 
amends  with  weeping  for  the  loss  of  chastity,  "which 
in  her  body  it  was  not  allowed  her  to  preserve,"  and 
further,  that  as  she  still  desired  to  devote  her  pro- 
perty to  pious  uses,  she  might  be  permitted,  after 
putting  aside  a  due  provision  for  her  children,  to  do 
so.  He  bids  them  take  his  brotherly  admonition 
kindly,  since  even  a  bitter  cup  is  taken  gladly  when 
offered  with  a  view  to  health.2 

In  October  600,  Gregory  wrote  to  Conon,  the 
Abbot  of  Lerins,  praising  him  for  the  way  he 
ruled  his  monastery,  of  which  he  had  heard  from 

1  E.  and  H.  ix.  213  ;  Barmby,  ix.  109. 

2  E.  and  ff.  ix.  224  ;  Barmby,  ix.  114. 


SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

his  own  fellow-bishop,  Menas,  the  Bishop  of  Toulon 
("  Telesinus"),  of  whom  he  had  made  complaints  in 
an  earlier  letter.  He  contrasts  his  conduct  with  the 
laxity  of  his  predecessor,  Stephen,  and  duly  encour- 
ages him.1  At  the  same  time  he  wrote  a  sharp  and 
caustic  letter  to  Serenus,  the  Bishop  of  Marseilles, 
who,  it  would  seem,  had  questioned  the  genuineness 
of  the  Pope's  previous  rebuke  about  images,  which 
he  had  suggested  had  been  concocted  by  Cyriacus. 
Gregory  again  pressed  on  him  the  difference  between 
adoring  a  picture  and  using  it  for  edification  and  for 
the  illiterate  to  learn  from.  He  further  says  that 
antiquity  had  (not  without  reason)  allowed  the 
histories  of  saints  to  be  painted  in  venerable  places. 
The  Pope  adds  that  in  consequence  of  the  bishop's 
acts  the  greater  part  of  his  spiritual  children  had 
suspended  themselves  from  his  communion.  If  he 
could  not  retain  his  old  sheep,  how  could  he  attract 
new  ones  ?  and  he  bade  him  use  zeal  to  recall  those 
who  had  left.  He  should  call  them  together  and 
show  them  from  Scripture  that  nothing  made  with 
hands  is  to  be  adored.  He  must  also  tell  them 
that  he  had  broken  the  pictorial  representations 
because  he  had  seen  them  misuse  them,  and  that 
if  they  merely  wished  to  learn  from  them  he  would 
have  them  restored  and  thus  appease  them,  and 
he  should  press  on  them  that  "  they  ought  from 
the  pictures  to  catch  the  ardour  of  compunction 
and  bow  themselves  in  adoration  before  God."  He 
further  rebukes  Serenus  for  associating  with  bad 

1  E.  and  H.  xi.  9  ;  Barmby,  xi.  12, 


SAINT  GREGORY'S  LETTER  TO  DESIDERIUS    177 

men,  inter  alios,  with  a  certain  priest  who  had 
given  way  to  his  lust,  and  bids  him  cut  himself 
off  entirely  from  him,  while  as  to  others  reported 
to  be  bad,  he  was  to  restrain  them  by  fatherly 
exhortation,  and  if  they  would  not  obey  he  was  to  cast 
them  out.  He  bade  him  remember  how  execrable 
it  was  in  the  sight  of  men  if  vices  were  nurtured 
by  those  whose  duty  it  was  to  punish  them.1 

On  22nd  June,  Gregory  wrote  to  Vergilius  of 
Aries,  counselling  him  who  claimed  to  have  his 
own  hands  clean  from  simony  to  exercise  the 
jurisdiction  which  belonged  to  him  and  restrain 
others,  and  to  insist  on  a  synod  being  summoned 
to  root  it  out.  He  also  called  his  attention  to  the 
complaints  he  had  received  about  his  fellow-bishop, 
Serenus  of  Marseilles,  as  referred  to  in  the  previous 
letter,  and  asked  him  to  inquire  into  them.2 

At  the  same  time  the  Pope  wrote  to  Desiderius, 
Bishop  of  Vienne,  who,  it  seems,  had  asked  him  for 
some  favour  (probably  a  pallium).  This,  Gregory 
suggests,  he  felt  disposed  to  grant  him,  but  he  had 
hesitated,  since  he  had  found  that  he  was  in  the 
habit  of  expounding  grammar  to  certain  persons. 
The  teaching  of  grammar  no  doubt  involved  the  use 
of  materials  and  examples  from  heathen  literature. 
This  the  Pope  took  amiss,  since  he  said  the  "  praises 
of  Christ  cannot  find  room  in  the  same  mouth  as 
the  praise  of  Jupiter."  "And,  consider,"  he  says, 
"  what  a  heinous  thing  it  is  for  a  bishop  to  sing 

1  E.  and  H.  xi.  10;  Barmby,  xi.  13. 

2  E.  and  H.  xi.  38  ;  Barmby,  xi.  55. 
12 


1 78  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

what  is  not  even  becoming  in  a  religious  layman." 
Candidas  the  Rector,  on  his  return  to  Rome,  had 
denied  the  reports  about  Desiderius,  and  tried  to 
excuse  him,  but  the  Pope  seems  to  have  doubted 
his  testimony.  If  it  should  prove  to  be  false,  he 
said,  that  he  devoted  himself  to  trifles  and  secular 
literature,  he  would,  without  hesitation,  grant  what 
he  had  requested.1  This  letter  confirms  the  view 
that  Gregory  entirely  disliked  secular  literature,  and 
no  doubt  his  influence  greatly  depressed  its  study 
in  favour  of  obscurantism  in  the  Western  Church. 
It  also  afforded  him  a  fresh  excuse  for  refusing 
Desiderius  the  pallium  and  thus  preventing  Bruni- 
childis  from  feeling  sore.  In  a  letter  of  the  same 
date,  written  to  Aetherius  of  Lyons,  he  commends 
him  in  glowing  terms  for  his  zeal,  obedience,  and 
rectitude,  but,  as  usual,  presses  him  with  the  other 
bishops  to  summon  a  synod  as  soon  as  might  be 
in  order  to  put  down  the  scandal  of  simony.  In 
regard  to  the  privileges  claimed  by  him  for  the 
bishops  of  his  see,  as  of  ancient  custom,  the  Pope 
says  he  had  had  search  made,  but  could  find  no 
evidence  of  it,  and  he  prudently  asked  to  be 
furnished  with  the  evidence,  so  that  he  might 
know  what  ought  to  be  granted.2 

In  a  second  letter  of  the  same  date,  written  to  the 
Bishop  of  Gap  (Vapincense)  in  affectionate  terms, 
the  Pope  commends  Candidus  the  Rector  of  the 
patrimony  of  St.  Peter.3  He  similarly  commends 

1  E.  and  H.  xi.  34  ;  Barmby,  xi.  54. 

8  E.  and  H.  xi.  40.  *  Ib.  xi.  44. 


LETTERS  TO  THE  GAULISH  BISHOPS      179 

him  in  another  letter  of  equal  date  to  Asclepiodotus 
the  Patrician  of  the  Gauls.  He  asks  the  latter  to 
help  and  support  Candidus  in  his  arduous  labours 
of  providing  for  the  poor,  etc.  The  Pope  also 
sends  him  a  key  of  the  sepulchre  containing  filings 
from  St.  Peter's  chains  to  wear  about  his  neck  as 
a  charm,1  assuring  him  they  would  protect  him 
against  all  ills  (omnia  adversa  vos  muniat). 

In  another  letter,  of  22nd  June  60 1,  he  asks 
Vergilius,  Bishop  of  Aries,  to  receive  kindly,  and 
take  friendly  counsel  with,  the  Bishop  of  Autun 
if  by  chance  he  should  visit  him.  The  latter 
bishop  had  probably  been  on  a  visit  to  Rome.2 

In  two  letters  of  commendation  written  to  the 
two  young  Frank  princes,  Theodoric  and  Theo- 
debert  on  behalf  of  missionaries  going  to  Britain, 
the  Pope  again  urges  upon  them  both,  in  reply 
to  their  letters  offering  to  further  the  cause  of  the 
Church,  to  summon  a  synod  to  deal  with  simony.3 
In  a  similar  letter,  dated  the  22nd  of  June  601, 
written  to  Brunichildis  and  in  which  the  language 
of  fulsome  diplomacy  is  again  liberally  used,  Gregory 
acknowledges  her  letters  expressing  her  good  dis- 
position towards  the  Church,  and  again  presses 
her  to  summon  a  synod  to  put  down  simony  in 
the  kingdoms  of  her  grandsons.4 

In  June  60 1,  Gregory  wrote  a  letter  to  Chlo- 
thaire,  the  King  of  Neustria,  being  the  only  direct 
communication  with  that  kingdom  which  we  know 

1  E.  and  H.  xi.  43.  2  Ib.  xi.  45. 

3  E.  and  H.  xi.  47,  50  ;  xi.  59,  60. 

4  E.  and  H.  xi.  49  ;  Barmby,  xi.  62. 


i8o  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

he  ever  had.  In  it  he  urges  upon  him  his  usual 
refrain,  namely,  to  summon  a  synod  to  put  down 
abuses  in  the  Church.1  It  is  curious  that  this  letter 
should  have  been  the  only  one  he  wrote  on  the 
subject  which  had  any  effect,  for  we  hear  of  synods 
being  called  by  Chlothaire  in  60 1  and  in  603 
or  6o4.2 

It  is  not  possible  to  read  the  correspondence 
here  condensed  between  the  great  Pope  and  the 
rulers  and  bishops  of  France  without  having  our 
regard  for  him  enhanced.  In  season  and  out 
of  season  he  presses  upon  them  the  shameful 
condition  of  Church  discipline  among  the  Franks, 
the  widespread,  unblushing  simony,  the  appoint- 
ment of  illiterate  and  untrained  men  to  the  great 
sees,  etc.  etc.,  and  he  urges  upon  them  the  only 
possible  remedy  alike  efficient  and  likely  to  last, 
namely,  the  regular  summoning  of  provincial 
synods  for  the  discussion  and  trial  and  preven- 
tion of  such  abuses.  It  is  equally  clear  that  his 
advice  and  counsel  were  unpopular.  The  rulers, 
with  the  notable  exception  of  Guntran  of  Burgundy, 
revelled  in  the  profit  and  power  that  came  to  them 
in  this  Erastian  land  by  allowing  things  to  remain 
as  they  were,  while  the  bishops  who  had  been 

1  E.  and  H.  xi.  51  ;  Barmby,  xi.  61. 

*  Dudden,  69.  This  is  apparently  the  last  genuine  letter  written 
by  Gregory  to  the  princes  or  bishops  of  Gaul.  The  letters  to 
Brunichildis  (E.  and  H.  xiii.  7),  to  Aetherius  the  Bishop  (ib.  8), 
to  King  Theodoric  (ib.  9),  to  Senator,  priest,  and  abbot  (ib.  u),  to 
Talasia,  abbess  (ib.  12),  and  to  Lupus,  priest  and  abbot  (ib.  13),  all 
dated  in  November  602,  seem  to  me  open  to  the  gravest  suspicion. 
Vide  ante,  Introduction. 


ST.  GREGORY  AND  THE  GAULISH  CHURCH  1 8 1 

for  many  years  without  restraint  or  criticism  were 
impatient  of  both. 

It  must  be  said  that  the  Pope's  methods  were 
not  always  easy  to  bear.  The  Bishop  of  Autun 
was  a  venerable  and  respectable  old  gentleman, 
and  under  other  conditions  none  would  have 
questioned  his  desire  for  the  pallium,  which  gave 
him  dignity  and  prestige  among  his  brethren, 
but  he  was,  after  all,  a  suffragan  of  the  Archbishop 
of  Lyons,  and  to  give  him  the  pallium,  while 
withholding  it  from  his  Metropolitan,  was  not 
likely  to  conciliate  the  latter.  Again,  in  regard 
to  the  Archbishop  of  Vienne ;  to  refuse  him  the 
same  distinction  because  the  imperious  Queen  of 
Austrasia  had  a  bitter  personal  dislike  to  him, 
and  to  write  him  letters  reproving  him  for  reading 
the  classics,  as  if  he  were  a  schoolboy  and  not 
a  distinguished  scholar,  was  hardly  likely  to  be 
cheerfully  forgiven.  It  would  seem  that  on  all 
sides  among  those  who  were  powerful  to  initiate 
reforms  in  Gaul,  there  were  very  few  who  felt  dis- 
posed to  march  along  the  road  pointed  out  by  the 
Pope,  and  in  those  turbulent,  difficult  times  even 
sympathetic  bishops  might  feel  some  hesitation  in 
calling  together  their  clergy  too  often,  and  having 
all  kinds  of  uncomfortable  questions  raised.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  Pope  dealt  with  the  secular 
rulers  of  Gaul  with  a  skilful  and  tender  hand. 
He  forgave  them  much  because  they  were  orthodox 
and  perhaps  also  because  he  felt  that  they  came 
from  a  rough  untutored  stock,  among  whom  the 


1 82  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

amenities  of  life  had  been  little  studied,  and  he 
doubtless  thought,  as  did  St.  Francis  of  Sales,  that 
"  more  flies  are  caught  by  a  spoonful  of  honey 
than  by  a  whole  barrel  of  vinegar."  One  other 
prudent  thing  he  also  did  in  carefully  studying  and 
avoiding  the  prejudices  and  the  sensitive  jealousy 
of  the  rough  Prankish  kings  by  not  encroaching 
on  their  privileges  and  power.  He  fully  conceded 
to  them  the  right  to  summon  synods  to  approve 
decrees  and  to  suppress  ecclesiastical  abuses. 

Mr.    Kellett    has    a    striking   passage   on    the 
subsequent  history  of  the  intercourse  of  the  Popes 
with  Gaul.     He  says  :  "  After  the  death  of  Gregory 
the  First,  communication    between  the  popes  and 
the   kings   and   bishops   of    Gaul   seems   to  have 
practically  ceased  for  many  years.     The  failure  of 
the  great  Pope  to    effect  any  reformation  in  that 
country  appears  to  have   deterred   his  feeble  suc- 
cessors from  attempting  it.     The  disorganisation  of 
the  Church  then  became  complete.     After  Vergilius 
no  vicar  of  the  Apostolic  see    was  nominated  for 
nearly  a  century  and   a   half.     No  Metropolitans 
were  appointed.     Every  bishop  became  independ- 
ent, and  did  what  seemed  right  in  his  own  eyes. 
To  add  to  the  darkness  of  the  outlook  Columban 
and  his  monks  were  expelled  by  Brunichildis,  and 
thus    the    clearest    light    of  Christianity    in    Gaul 
was  quenched."1     On  the  other  hand,  monasticism 
flourished  and    spread  exceedingly,   but  there  was 
no  direct  intercourse  with  or  control  by  Rome. 

1  Kellett,  Cambridge  Hist.  Essays,  ii.  82. 


"THE  HUNDRED  YEARS  OF  SILENCE "     183 

For  more  than  a  century,  says  Mr.  Dudden, 
there  appears  to  have  been  no  intercourse  between 
the  popes  and  the  Frank  rulers ;  at  any  rate,  till 
the  time  of  Gregory  the  Second  no  documents 
exist  which  can  be  quoted  in  proof  of  any  inter- 
communication. Rome  left  the  Merovingian  princes 
to  their  fate.1 

1  Op.  cit.  ii.  98. 


CHAPTER   VI 

IT  will  be  now  interesting  to  shortly  picture  to 
ourselves  the  condition  and  administration  of  the 
patrimony  of  St.  Peter  at  this  time.  It  was,  in  fact, 
enormous  in  extent,  and  comprised  lands  granted 
by  the  Emperor,  legacies  or  gifts  from  the  faithful 
rich,  especially  those  who  had  withdrawn  to  monas- 
teries, and  many  other  sources.  Grisar  calculates 
its  amount  at  1800  square  miles  of  territory  and 
,£300,000  of  income,  while  an  Italian  estimate,  says 
Dudden,  puts  the  area  at  1360  square  miles,  and 
the  revenue  at  .£120,000  in  money,  and  ^300,000 
in  kind.  It  was  scattered  over  a  wide  area,  its 
largest  and  most  fertile  portions  being  in  Sicily  and 
Africa.  Another  portion  was  situated  at  Ravenna, 
and  other  small  estates  were  in  Liguria  and 
the  Cottian  Alps.  In  Central  Italy  were  pro- 
perties in  the  old  province  of  Samnium,  near 
Nursia  in  the  Sabine  country  and  about  Tivoli. 
Between  the  Appian  Way  and  the  Via  Latina,  and 
as  far  as  the  sea,  was  the  Patrimonium  Appiae, 
while  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Tiber  was  the 
largest  estate  of  all,  known  as  the  Patrimonium 
Tusciae.  A  third  estate,  known  as  the  Patrimonium 
Labicanae,  extended  between  the  Via  Labicana 


,v    ";      ^- 


PORTRAIT  OF  ST.  GREGORY  IX  STATE  DRESS, 
FROM  AN  IVORY  DIPTYCH  ON  A  BOOK 
AT  MONZA,  PRESENTED  BY  HIM  TO 
QUEEN  THEODELINDA. 

To  face  p.  184. 


THE  PATRIMONY  OF  SAINT  PETER      185 

and  the  Arno,  while  the  fourth  extended  from  the 
Via  Tiburtina  to  the  Tiber,  and  was  known  as  the 
Patrimonium  Tiburtinum.  These  estates  near 
Rome  eventually  included  the  greater  part  of 
the  Ager  Romanus,  comprising  most  of  the 
modern  Campagna,1  and  were  dotted  with  olive 
plantations.  In  Rome  itself  the  popes  owned  con- 
siderable house  property  and  gardens.  They  also 
had  an  estate  at  Minturnae,  as  well  as  the  islands 
known  as  I  sole  di  Ponza  on  the  coast.  The  forests 
of  Lucania  and  Bruttii  supplied  them  with  wood 
for  church  building  and  repairs,  and  other  posses- 
sions were  situated  at  Otranto  and  Gallipoli  in  the 
heel  of  Italy.  Outside  Italy  the  Pope's  wide  estates 
at  Germanicia,  near  Hippo  in  Africa,  and  especially 
in  Sicily,  were  the  principal  granaries  of  impover- 
ished Italy.  He  also  had  properties  in  Sardinia 
and  Corsica,  small  estates  in  Dalmatia  (where  the 
property  was  known  as  Recula  S.  Petri  inter  Dal- 
matias2)  and  Illyria,  and  lands  also  in  the  south  of 
Gaul ;  but  he  apparently  owned  no  land  in  Spain  or 
the  East.3  A  portion  of  these  estates  was  leased  in 
perpetuity,  or  for  a  life  and  two  specified  heirs,  for 
a  fixed  rent,  by  a  contract  called  emphyteusis.  In 
the  case  of  worthless  lands  the  lease  was  a  per- 
petual one.  It  is  a  good  proof  of  the  popularity  of 
these  leases,  and  the  prosperity  of  the  tenants  under 
them,  that  the  Pope  should  write  to  his  deputy 
Peter,  to  tell  him  that  many  came  to  Rome  desiring 

1  Gregorovius,  op.  cit.  i.  388,  389.  2  Grisar,  op.  tit.  600. 

3  Gregorovius,  i.  387  ;  Dudden,  i.  297,  298. 


1 86  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

lands  on  islands  belonging  to  the  Church.  To  some, 
he  says,  he  had  granted  leases  and  refused  them  to 
others,  and  he  wished  him  to  take  care  in  the  matter, 
as  his  only  motive  ought  to  be  the  good  of  the 
Church.1  In  another  letter  written  to  the  Defensor 
Romanus,  he  warns  him  against  accepting  as  tenants 
the  Imperial  recruiting  officers  called  scribones, 
since  they  had  a  bad  reputation.  One  of  them, 
whom  he  calls  Gentis  vir  magnificus  scribo,  for 
whom  he  makes  an  exception,  should  be  charged 
a  rent  of  20  pigs,  20  wethers,  and  60  fowls.2  A 
much  larger  part  of  the  patrimony  was  not 
leased,  but  owned  as  an  English  gentleman 
owns  his  estate,  and  its  administration  was  con- 
trolled and  superintended  by  the  ubiquitous  and 
indefatigable  Pope.  The  stewards  and  adminis- 
trators of  these  estates  under  his  supervision  were 
called  rectores  patrimonii.  They  had  generally 
been  laymen,  but  Gregory  chiefly  employed  deacons 
and  subdeacons,  or,  in  remote  districts,  even  bishops 
for  the  purpose.  To  them  he  was  continually  writ- 
ing letters  of  guidance  or  reproach.  Under  them 
there  were  certain  officials  called  defensores  ecclesiae, 
or  Church  guardians,  whose  appointment  needed  for 
its  sanction  letters  under  the  Pope's  own  hand.  The 
protection  of  the  poor  is  specified  in  one  of  Gregory's 
letters,  as  the  main  object  of  these  defensores.  They 
were  also  to  recover  runaway  slaves,  and  lands  which 
belonged  to  the  Holy  See,  and  had  been  unjustly 

1  E.  and  H.  \.  79  ;  Barm  by,  i.  72.     See  also  E.  and  H.  ix.  125. 
*  E.  and  H.  ix.  78. 


1 8; 

occupied  by  others  ;  but  they  had  frequently  a  much 
wider  commission.  Dr.  Barmby  has  collected  some 
details  about  their  duties.  Not  only  were  they  to 
carry  out  works  of  charity,  but  also  to  maintain  the 
rights  and  property  of  churches,  to  rectify  abuses  in 
monasteries  and  hospitals,  to  see  to  the  canonical 
election  of  bishops,  and  to  the  supply  of  ecclesiastical 
ministrations  during  the  suspension  or  incapacity  of 
the  holders  of  sees,  to  assist  bishops  in  the  exercise 
of  discipline,  and  even  to  rebuke  and  coerce  bishops 
themselves  when  negligent  in  their  duty,  and  to 
admonish  them  when  living  immoral  lives,  to  act 
against  heretics,  and  to  arrange  about  holding  local 
synods.  In  some  cases  they  were  also  themselves 
rectores  patrimonii.  They  constituted  a  schola,  or 
guild,  as  did  also  the  notaries  and  subdeacons.  In 
598  Gregory  directed  that  seven  of  them  in  Rome 
should  be  styled  rectores  regionarii,  as  was  already 
the  case  with  the  notaries  and  subdeacons.  These 
Regional  rectors  were  entitled  to  sit  in  assemblies  of 
the  clergy  when  the  Pope  was  not  present,  and  they 
managed  the  property  in  the  seven  regions  of  Rome. 
They  were  not  necessarily  in  sacred  orders,  but  might 
marry  and  have  families.  To  assist  the  defensors 
and  rectors  were  a  lower  grade  of  officials  styled 
actores,  answering  to  our  clerks,  who  had  to  be  ton- 
sured, and  whose  offices  were  conferred  by  diploma. 
When  the  work  was  specially  heavy,  another  class, 
i.e.  sworn  notaries  (notarii,  also  called  chartularii\ 
were  appointed.  The  head  of  the  notaries  was 
called  Primicerius  notariorum.  All  these  officials 


1 88  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

had   to  keep  account  books,  and  to  present  them 
every  indiction.1 

Below  these  again  were  the  conductores,  or 
"farmers,"  each  of  whom  superintended  "a  massa," 
or  estate,  comprising  several  farms  (fundi).  They 
collected  the  rents  and  dues  (pensiones)  from  the  peas- 
ants, which  were  paid  in  money  and  kind,  and  were 
responsible  to  the  Roman  agents  for  the  amount ; 
like  other  publicans  in  similar  position,  they  were 
often  exacting,  cruel,  and  oppressive.  Their  posts 
were  hereditary,  and  guardians  of  their  interests  were 
duly  appointed  during  the  infancy  of  their  children. 

Such  was  the  hierarchy  of  officials  which  the  Pope 
had  doubtless  partially  inherited  from  the  old  Roman 
polity.  The  actual  tillers  of  the  soil  were  divided 
into  two  classes — the  peasants,  or  serfs,  called  coloni^ 
or  rustici,  and  the  slaves.  Although  nominally 
free,  the  former  were  attached  to  the  soil  (ascripti 
glebae],  and  could  not  move  or  marry  out  of  the 
estate  on  which  they  worked,  without  permission. 
They  had  private  property,  which  was,  however, 
always  considered  to  be  pledged  for  the  next  rent : 
they  could  not  sell  it  without  the  landlord's  consent. 
In  legal  actions  they  must  be  represented  by  the 
landlord,  and  could  be  punished  by  him  at  his 
discretion.  They  were,  however,  protected  by 
documentary  titles,  each  one  having  his  rights  and 
duties  entered  in  a  separate  register  named  Libellus 
securitatis?  Slavery  was  a  recognised  institution, 

1  Barmby,    Letters    of  Saint  Gregory,   etc.,   Prolegomena,   vii., 
viii.,  xii. 

8  Gregorovius,  ib.  388  ;  Dudden,  op.  cit.  i.  305. 


THE  PEASANTS  AND  THEIR  BURDENS      189 

and  there  were  large  numbers  of  slaves  who  acted 
as  herdsmen,  shepherds,  and  tillers  of  the  soil  on 
the  lands  occupied  directly  by  the  Pope  and  by 
private  proprietors  on  what  we  call  demesne  lands. 

To  protect  these  hardly-used  coloni  and  slaves 
was  the  duty  of  the  Rector,  who  represented  the 
Pope  on  each  estate. 

The  best  known  of  these  rectors  was  the  sub- 
deacon  Peter,  whom  the  Pope  refers  to  so  tenderly 
in  the  opening  scene  of  his  famous  Dialogues,  when 
he  tells  us  that  from  his  earliest  youth  he  had  been 
his  bosom  friend,  and  had  shared  his  studies  in  Holy 
Scripture.  He  was  a  somewhat  careless,  happy-go- 
lucky  creature,  transparently  honest  and  simple,  and 
the  Pope  in  his  letters  to  him  treats  him  and  his  faults 
with  a  mixture  of  tenderness  and  gentle  sarcasm. 
He  by  turns  rebukes  and  pleads  with  him  on  his 
inattention  and  unbusinesslike  habits  like  an  affec- 
tionate uncle.  To  him  he  entrusted  the  care  of  the 
papal  patrimony  in  Sicily,  which  was  divided  into 
two  estates,  the  Syracusan  and  Palermitan.  Peter's 
predecessors  had  performed  their  duties  tyrannically, 
and  permitted  a  great  many  iniquities  to  be  done 
in  the  name  of  the  Church,  and  Gregory  in  his 
correspondence  gives  him  minute  instructions  how 
he  was  to  act. 

The  Church  lands  were  tilled,  as  we  have  seen, 
by  the  native  peasants  (coloni).  They  enjoyed  the 
result  of  their  labours  subject  to  the  payment  of  a 
certain  land-tax  (burdatid]  and  also  of  a  tithe  of  the 
produce,  sometimes  paid  in  kind  and  sometimes  com- 


1 90  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

muted.  These  dues  had,  no  doubt,  been  in  former 
times  paid  to  the  Roman  officials,  and  the  Church 
merely  succeeded  to  them.  The  massae  (or  praediae] 
were  sometimes  grouped  into  larger  estates,  which 
were  farmed  out  to  farmers  (conductores),  the  farmers 
accounting  for  certain  amounts  to  the  Church  and 
exacting  what  they  could  from  the  peasants.  This 
method  of  collecting  dues  naturally  led  to  oppression. 

Among  the  abuses  which  had  sprung  up,  and 
which  Gregory  commissioned  his  agent  Peter  to 
correct,  were  the  use  of  false  measures  for  weighing 
the  tithed  grain  and  that  purchased  from  the  peasants 
for  the  use  of  the  State,  and  the  over-valuation  of 
the  tithe  when  it  had  been  compounded  for  a  year  of 
plenty  and  was  made  the  measure  of  years  of  scarcity. 
It  had  been  the  custom,  in  addition  to  the  tithe,  to 
exact  various  extras,  such  as  granary  dues,  etc.,  while 
the  farmers  claimed  illegally  to  take  for  themselves 
3^r  out  of  every  70  measures  of  grain.  This  was 
now  disallowed,  and  each  peasant  was  to  have  a 
charter  made  out,  specifying  the  exact  amount  he 
had  to  pay.  Unjust  and  excessive  weights  were 
ordered  to  be  broken.  The  burdatio  was  apparently 
the  tax  due  to  the  civil  power.  In  order  that  the 
peasants  (who  had  to  pay  it  before  their  crops 
were  available)  should  be  able  to  do  so,  they  were 
obliged  to  borrow  money  at  exorbitant  rates  from 
pawnbrokers.  Gregory  provided  that  the  Rector 
should  advance  the  money  and  have  it  repaid  by 
instalments. 

In  regard  to  the  marriage  fees  (nuptiale  com- 


LAPSED  PRIESTS,  ETC.  191 

moda)  of  the  rustics,  they  were  in  no  case  to  exceed 
a  solidus,  or  gold  piece,  and  if  the  people  were  poor 
they  were  to  pay  less.  These  fees  were  not  to  be 
credited  to  the  Church,  but  to  the  farmers  (con- 
ductores}.  The  heirs  of  the  farmers  were  to  succeed 
to  their  goods,  and  they  were  not  to  be  confiscated 
to  the  Church,  as  had  often  been  the  case ;  and  if 
they  left  little  children,  guardians  were  to  be  ap- 
pointed for  them. 

If  any  one  of  a  family  misbehaved  he  was  to  be 
personally  punished  and  not  fined,  as  the  fine  would 
come  out  of  the  common  fund  of  the  family,  and  so 
all  would  be  punished  for  the  fault  of  one ;  and  no 
presents  were  to  be  received  from  such  ill-doers.  If 
a  farmer  made  an  exaction  from  a  peasant  and  was 
compelled  to  refund,  the  sum  was  to  be  returned  to 
the  peasant,  so  that  the  Church  should  not  share  in 
his  rapacity.  New  tenants  of  the  farms  were  not  to 
pay  consideration  for  their  position,  which  would 
be  a  temptation  to  change  them,  and  thus  the  land 
would  cease  to  be  cultivated.  In  the  case  of  a 
certain  farmer,  Theodosius,  who  had  been  a  de- 
faulter in  the  payment  of  his  dues  and  had  exacted 
a  double  payment  from  the  peasants  of  their  tax, 
this  was  to  be  returned  to  them  out  of  the  sale 
of  his  effects ;  if  any  balance  remained  over,  it 
was  to  be  paid  to  his  daughter,  who  was  also 
to  have  her  father's  basin  (baciola1}  returned  to 
her. 

In  another  case,  after  providing  for  the  rectifica- 

1  E.  and  H.  i.  42. 


192  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

tion  of  several  small  acts  of  injustice  and  of  misfortune 
of  a  private  kind,  Gregory  orders  his  agent  to  set 
apart  a  portion  of  the  money  of  the  church  of 
Canusium  for  the  relief  of  the  clergy  there,  who 
seem  to  have  been  in  want. 

In  regard  to  lapsed  priests,  i.e.  those  who  had 
committed  some  offence,  rendering  them  liable  to 
excommunication,  he  provided  that  they  should  be 
sent  to  some  poor  monastery  to  be  reclaimed  by 
penance ;  their  property  was  to  be  given  to  their 
relations,  but  a  portion  was  to  be  reserved  for  the 
poor  monks  who  took  charge  of  them ;  if  they 
belonged  to  a  community  the  Church  was  to  retain 
a  claim  to  this  property. 

It  had  been  the  practice  for  subdeacons  to  marry, 
but  it  seems,  from  a  letter  of  the  Pope  to  the  sub- 
deacon  Peter,  dated  May  591,  that  three  years  be- 
fore, an  order  had  been  issued  in  Sicily  forbidding 
them  to  have  conjugal  intercourse  with  their  wives. 
This  Gregory  deemed  unreasonable,  but  in  future 
no  married  men  were  to  be  ordained.  None  but 
those  subdeacons  who  had  lived  in  chastity  were 
to  be  advanced  in  the  Church. 

In  the  same  letter1  Peter  was  to  see  to  the 
nuisance  which  had  arisen  in  consequence  of  the 
disturbance  of  monasteries  in  the  recent  wars,  by 
which  many  monks  were  wandering  from  monastery 
to  monastery  without  leave  of  the  abbots.  I  n  another 
letter  he  advises  him  to  settle  certain  vagrant  monks 
together  with  the  Bishop  of  Taurianum,  in  Bruttii 
1  E.  and  H.  i.  42. 


LETTERS  TO  PETER  THE  DEACON   193 

(whom  they  had  once  obeyed),  in  the  Monastery 
of  St.  Theodore,  at  Messina.1 

In  regard  to  a  monk  who  had  left  half  of 
his  property  to  the  Defensor  Fantinus,  and  thus 
broken  a  very  rigid  monastic  rule  about  owning 
private  property,  the  Pope  nevertheless  ordered 
that  the  money  should  be  paid  over,  since  Fantinus 
had  deserved,  but  not  yet  received,  a  proper  recom- 
pense for  his  services. 

It  is  surprising,  in  reading  these  letters,  to  see 
the  tender  solicitude  shown  for  all  the  oppressed 
and  suffering,  especially  for  women  and  children, 
and  the  care  taken  by  the  Pope  that  anything  that 
had  been  unjustly  done  should  be  rectified.  Inter 
alia,  he  sent  back  three  onyx  phials  (amulae 
onichinae]  which  had  been  sent  to  him,  and  which 
he  ordered  to  be  restored  to  the  owner,  from  whom 
they  had  been  improperly  taken.2 

In  another  letter  written  to  the  same  agent,  the 
Pope  enters  into  details  in  regard  to  the  manage- 
ment of  his  farms  in  Sicily,  which  show  what  a 
practical  man  of  business  he  was.  Thus  he  writes  : 
"  Cows  which  are  barren  with  age,  or  bulls  which 
are  useless,  ought  to  be  sold,  so  that  some  profit 
may  accrue  from  them.  As  to  the  herds  of  mares 
which  we  keep  very  unprofitably,  I  wish  them  all 
to  be  disposed  of  except  400  of  the  younger  ones 
for  breeding."  Those  dispensed  with  were  to  be 
handed  over  to  the  farmers,  to  be  turned  into  cash, 
so  that  they  might  make  some  return  for  the  loss 

1  E.  and  H.  \,  39.  8  Id.  i.  42,  and  vol.  i.  p.  68,  note  4. 


194  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

they  had  caused  in  successive  years,  "for  it  is  hard 
for  us  to  spend  60  solidi  on  the  herdsmen  and  not 
get  sixty  pence  from  the  herds."  The  herdsmen,  he 
thought,  "  should  also  make  some  profit  out  of  the 
cultivation  of  the  ground.  All  the  implements  at 
Syracuse  and  Palermo  belonging  to  the  Church  must 
be  sold  before  they  perished  entirely  from  age."  Then 
comes  a  passage  showing  that  the  Pope's  palfreys 
came  from  Sicily,  where  in  the  time  of  Pindar  the 
best  coursers  for  the  circus  were  bred.  Gregory  is 
sarcastic  on  the  subject :  "  Thou  hast  sent  me  one 
wretched  nag  (caballum  miserum)  and  five  good 
asses.  The  nag  I  cannot  ride,  it  is  such  a  wretched 
one,  and  those  '  good  asses '  I  cannot  ride  because 
they  are  asses  (non  sedere  possum  quia  asini  sunt)" 
In  the  same  letter  he  instructs  his  agent  about 
the  disposition  of  various  gifts  to  poor  monasteries, 
people,  etc.  etc.  He  further  summons  him  to  come  to 
Rome,  apparently  to  explain  a  charge  of  receiving  a 
bribe,  which  had  been  made  against  him.  Before 
leaving,  he  tells  him  to  give  a  little  present  (parvum 
aliquid  exenium)  to  the  recruiting  officers  (scriboni) 
to  make  them  well  disposed  towards  him,  and  some- 
thing also,  according  to  ancient  custom,  to  the 
Praetor.  He  was  to  give  these  "  tips  "  by  the  hand  of 
his  successor,  so  as  to  conciliate  their  favour  towards 
him.  One  sentence  in  the  letter  is  a  good  specimen 
of  the  way  Gregory  sometimes  rebukes  his  rather 
hapless  official  by  a  timely  sarcasm.  "  I  have  heard," 
he  says,  "  that  the  building  in  the  Praetorian  Monas- 
tery is  not  yet  even  half  completed  ;  which  being  the 


195 

case,  what  can  we  praise  for  it  but  thy  Experience's 
fervour  ?  "  The  last  sentence  is  also  interesting  : 
he  bids  Peter  give  to  the  Prsetorian  Monastery 
a  volume  of  the  Heptateuch  out  of  the  goods  of 
Antoninus  the  Defensor,  and  to  take  the  rest  of  his 
books  to  Rome  with  him.1 

In  another  letter  to  the  same  correspondent  he 
tells  him  how  for  some  years  there  had  been  com- 
plaints about  the  way  that  the  representatives  of 
the  Church  had  invaded  the  boundaries  of  other 
owners,  and  taken  their  slaves  and  moveables 
without  any  judicial  process.  He  bids  him  cure 
this,  and  take  care  that  no  tituli  were  wrongfully 
attached  to  any  urban  or  rural  farm.2  Titulum 
imponere  was  the  act  of  posting  up  a  written  claim 
to  property.  He  ends  this  letter  by  saying  that  it  had 
been  customary  for  bishops  to  pay  a  complimentary 
visit  to  Rome  on  the  Pope's  birthday.  Gregory  ob- 
jected to  this  flattery,  and,  if  they  had  to  go  thither, 
preferred  they  should  do  so  on  St.  Peter's  natal  day, 
by  whose  bounty  they  were  pastors  (ut  ei  cujus  largi- 
tate  pastores  sunt,  gratiarum  actiones  solvant\* 

The  Pope  does  not  mince  his  phrases  in  speak- 
ing to  his  careless  agent  Peter.  Thus  he  says  : 
"We  thank  thy  Solicitude  for  that,  after  we  had  in- 
formed thee  in  the  business  of  our  brother  to  send  him 
back  his  money,  thou  hast  consigned  the  matter  to 
oblivion  as  if  something  had  been  said  to  thee  by  the 
least  of  thy  slaves.  But  now  let  even  thy  Negligence 

1  E.  and  H.  ii.  38  ;  Barmby,  ii.  32. 

*  E,  and  H.  i.  390.        *  Ib.  i.  y)a  ;  Barmby,  i.  36. 


196  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

— I  cannot  say  thy  Experience — study  to  get  this 
done."  And  he  concludes  the  letter  :  "  Read  all  these 
things  over  carefully,  and  put  aside  all  that  familiar 
negligence  of  thine.  My  writings  which  I  have  sent 
to  the  peasants,  do  thou  cause  to  be  read  over 
throughout  all  the  estates,  that  they  may  know  in 
what  points  to  defend  themselves  under  our  authority 
against  acts  of  wrong,  and  let  either  the  originals  or 
copies  be  given  to  them.  See  that  thou  observest 
everything  without  abatement,  for  with  regard  to 
what  I  have  written  to  thee  for  the  observance  of 
justice,  I  am  absolved ;  and,  if  thou  art  negligent, 
thou  art  guilty.  .  .  .  Thou  hast  heard  what  I  wish 
to  be  done,  see  that  thou  do  it." 

In  all  this  we  see  something  more  than  the 
monk  and  Pope  :  we  see  the  trained  Roman  official, 
the  upright  prefect  of  former  days.  What  strikes 
one,  perhaps,  most,  is  how  much  of  the  administra- 
tion of  justice  had  passed  out  of  the  hands  of  the 
regular  courts,  and  how  much  better  off  the  tenants 
of  the  Church  must  have  been  than  other  people. 
The  Pope  kept  a  strict  watch  himself  over  the  whole 
administration.  His  special  attestation  was  required 
in  various  kinds  of  documents  relating  to  his  metro- 
politan province,  as  in  authorising  "  the  consecration 
of  churches,  oratories  and  monasteries,  the  deposition 
of  relics,  the  rebuilding  of  churches  burnt  by  fire,  the 
erection  of  episcopal  residences,  the  use  of  baptist- 
eries, the  wearing  of  the  pallium,  the  unification  of 
churches,"  etc.1 

1  Dudden,  i.  387. 


197 

John  the  Deacon  describes  in  some  detail  the  way 
in  which  the  great  income  of  the  papal  estates,  which 
were  managed  in  such  a  businesslike  fashion,  was  dis- 
pensed. The  whole  income  of  the  property  was  duly 
entered  up  in  a  great  ledger,  which  had  been  instit- 
uted by  Pope  Gelasius,  and  was  thence  called  Gelasii 
polyptycon.  Having  summoned  the  various  Church 
officials,  and  those  of  the  palaces,  monasteries,  lesser 
churches,  cemeteries,  deaconries,  and  guest-houses 
within  and  without  the  walls,  each  was  given  the 
number  of  solidi  to  which  he  was  entitled,  according 
to  the  ledger.  These  gifts  were  distributed  four 
times  a  year — namely,  at  Easter,  at  the  Feast  of  the 
Apostles  (2Qth  June),  on  St.  Andrew's  Day  (3Oth 
November),  and  on  Gregory's  own  fete  day  (3rd 
September).  Very  early  on  Easter  Day,  Gregory 
used  to  sit  in  the  Basilica  of  St.  Vigilius,  near  which 
he  lived,  to  exchange  the  kiss  of  peace  with  the 
bishops,  priests,  and  deacons,  etc.,  when  it  was  his 
habit  to  give  each  of  them  a  gold  piece ;  while  on  the 
Feast  of  the  Apostles  and  on  the  anniversary  of  his 
own  consecration  he  gave  them  some  money  and 
dresses  made  of  foreign  material. 

On  the  first  day  of  each  month  doles  were  given 
to  the  poor,  consisting  of  wine,  cheese,  vegetables, 
bacon,  meat,  flesh,  and  oil,  according  to  the  season, 
while  gifts  of  paints  and  other  foreign  products  were 
given  to  the  more  well-to-do  people.  Every  day, 
again,  he  entertained  twelve  strangers  at  his  table, 
and  he  used  to  send  cooked  meats  by  his  mes- 
sengers to  the  sick  and  infirm  poor,  while  to  the 


SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

impoverished  of  higher  rank  he  sent  a  dish  from 
his  own  table  before  he  himself  sat  down  to  dine.1 
With  the  gift  he  generally  sent  a  message  always 
marked  by  the  Pope's  tender  consideration  for  the 
feelings  of  the  impoverished  man.    One  of  his  letters 
toTheotisca,  the  sister  of  the  Emperor  Maurice,  illus- 
trates another  phase  of  his  eleemosynary  work.     He 
tells  her  how  the  city  of  Crotona  on  the  Adriatic  had 
the  year  before  been  sacked  by  the  Lombards,  and 
many  captives — men,  women,    and    children — had 
been  made,  only  some  of  whom  had  been  redeemed, 
since  the  captors  demanded  a  large  ransom.    He  had 
devoted  one  half  of  the  gift  she  had  sent  him  to  their 
redemption.     With  the  other  half  he  had  purchased 
bedclothes  for  the  handmaids  of  God,  "  whom  you 
call  monastriae" (m  Latin  sanctimoniales\  "inasmuch 
as  they  suffered  from  the  bareness  of  their  beds 
during  the  great  cold  of  winter."     Of  these  he  said 
there  were  then,  according  to  the  official  list,  33,000 
in  Rome,  who  received  eighty  pounds  annually  from 
the  possessions  of  St.  Peter,  which  he  says  was  very 
little  for  so  many.     He  claims  that  their  tears  and 
austerities  had  preserved  the  people  of  Rome  for 
many  years  from  the  hands  of  the  Lombards.2   The 
official  list  above  named  was  doubtless  the  so-called 
Pergrandc  Volumen  mentioned  by  John  the  Deacon 
as  preserved  at  the  Lateran,  and  containing  a  list  of 
all  the  people  in  Rome  and  the  suburbs  and  other 
towns,  with  details  about  their  sex,  age,  and  profes- 

1  John  the  Deacon,  ii.  24-28. 

2  E.  and  H.  vii.  23. 


SAINT  GREGORY'S  MANIFOLD  CHARITIES      199 

sion,  and  the  payments  they  were  entitled  to  receive.1 
Thus  elaborately  were  the  systematic  alms,  so  dis- 
tasteful to  modern  political  economy,  provided  for  by 
the  large-hearted  if  not  too  prudent  Pope.  His  bio- 
grapher Paul  tells  us  how  he  looked  after  the  division 
of  the  Church's  revenue  among  the  fourfold  objects 
to  which  it  was  assigned, — the  Bishop,  the  Clergy, 
the  fabrics  and  services  of  the  Church,  and  the  poor. 
He  had  a  list  of  the  deserving  poor  prepared,  who 
were  to  share  his  charity.  While  he  organised  a 
great  system  of  methodical  charity,  he  also  dispensed 
large  sums  in  individual  gifts  to  those  he  deemed 
deserving.  Those  in  need  found  him  a  ready  helper, 
perhaps  a  too  ready  helper ;  doles  of  beans,  wheat, 
wine,  or  gold  pieces  were  given  unstintingly  wherever 
he  heard  of  deserving  people.  To  a  bishop  named 
Ecclesius,  who  complained  that  he  was  suffering 
from  cold  in  the  winter,  he  sent  a  cloak  with  a  double 
nape  (Transmissimus  amphiballam  tunicam)?  To 
Eulogius,  the  Patriarch  of  Alexandria,  he  sends 
six  of  the  small  palls  called  aguitanian,  and  one 
or  two  napkins.3  With  a  letter  to  Theodorus  the 
physician  he  sends  a  duck  and  two  ducklings, 
"that  when  he  looked  upon  them  he  might  think  of 
himself." 4  Again,  in  a  letter  to  the  Lombard  queen, 
Theodelinda,  he  tells  her  he  is  sending  a  phylacta 
(i.e.  a  cross  with  some  wood  from  the  Cross  of 
Christ  inserted),  and  a  lection  of  the  holy  gospel 
enclosed  in  a  Persian  case  for  her  son  Advald,  who 

1  Op.  dt.  ii.  30.  8  E.  and  H.  xiv.  15. 

3  Ib.  vii.  40.  *  Ib.  iv.  32. 


200  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

became  king  of  the  Lombards  in  616  A.D.,  and  three 
rings,  two  of  them  with  hyacinths  (cum  iacinthis), 
and  the  third  with  an  albula  (?)  for  her  daughter.1 
A  certain  Marcellus  doing  penance  at  Palermo  was 
supplied  with  food,  clothes,  and  bedding  for  himself 
and  his  servant.2  The  recipients  of  his  charity  were 
very  various :  e.g.  a  former  Istrian  schismatic, 
three  Jewish  converts,  a  decayed  provincial 
governor  who  was  in  great  poverty,  an  old  blind 
serf  of  the  Church,  and  some  nuns  at  Nola  so 
poor  that  they  could  not  buy  food  or  clothes,  etc. 
Three  sons  of  a  defensor  who  had  died  in  debt  to 
the  Church  had  their  father's  property  restored  to 
them.  A  tenant  of  the  Church  who  had  suffered 
losses  had  half  his  rent  remitted.  To  a  certain 
consiliarius  who  had  no  servants  he  presented  a 
Sicilian  slave.  Argentius,  a  colonus  of  the  Church, 
was  given  a  property  in  order  that  he  might  exer- 
cise his  accustomed  hospitality  curam  hospitalitatis 
habere.  He  was  also  lavish  in  other  ways.  To 
Peter,  an  abbot  of  St.  Peter's  on  the  island  of 
Eumorphiana,  he  gave  1 500  pounds  of  lead  for  build- 
ing purposes ;  estates  in  Rome  were  given  to  two  nun- 
neries, and  3000  nuns  were  supported  by  the  Church. 
To  celebrate  the  dedication  of  an  oratory  at  Palermo 
he  gave  10  gold  solidi,  30  amphorae  of  wine,  200 
loaves,  2  orcae  of  oil,  12  wethers  and  100  hens.  He 
founded  a  guest-house  at  Jerusalem,  and  sent  15 
cloaks,  30  blankets  and  15  beds  to  the  monks  of  Mount 
Sinai;  while  he  made  over  10  mares  and  a  stallion  to 

1  E.  and  H.  xiv.  12.  2  Ib.  i.  18. 


THE  SUPPLIES  OF  CORN  AND  WOOD     201 

a  hospice  in  Sicily,  and  sent  160  solidi  to  purchase 
baptismal  robes  for  converted  Jews,  etc.  etc.1 

We  can  understand  what  an  increasing  number 
of  applicants  there  would  be  for  the  contents  of  a 
purse  which  never  seemed  exhausted,  and  how  often 
indiscriminate  alms  demoralised  large  numbers  of 
people. 

We  can  hardly  realise,  perhaps,  the  difficulty 
of  providing  for  the  poor  in  Rome  caused  by  the 
destruction  and  emigration  of  the  richer  citizens, 
who  had  dispensed  large  sums  in  eleemosynary 
work  in  the  city.  The  Church  now  undertook 
this  work,  which  was  well  organised.  In  each  of 
the  seven  ecclesiastical  districts  of  Rome  was  a 
Diaconia,  or  deaconry,  under  a  deacon,  whose  ac- 
counts had  a  special  administrator.  In  these  the 
poor,  old,  and  destitute  were  supplied  with  food. 
Various  Xenodockia,  or  guest-houses  for  strangers, 
existed  in  Rome,  where  the  poor  could  be  housed. 
Corn,  again,  was  publicly  distributed  in  the  monas- 
teries and  basilicas.2  John  the  Deacon  tells  us  that 
Gregory  also  sent  the  Abbot  Probus  to  found  a 
guest-house  at  Jerusalem.3 

The  heaviest  administrative  load  he  had  to 
bear  was,  however,  seeing  that  Rome  itself  was 
regularly  and  duly  provided  with  sufficient  corn 
to  avoid  famines,  which  meant  vigilance  in  collect- 
ing, storing,  and  shipping  it  from  Sicily  and  Africa. 
A  certain  amount  of  the  corn  required  was  supplied 

1  E.  and  H.  pass.  ;  Dudden,  i.  317,  318. 

2  Dudden,  i.  247.  8  Lib.  ii.  52. 


202  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

by  the  State,  but  the  greater  part  came  from 
the  Papal  patrimony  and  was  stored  in  the  Papal 
granaries,  which  he  took  care  were  always  replen- 
ished. In  a  letter  to  his  agent  Peter  he  says  there 
was  danger  of  a  famine  at  Rome ;  he  bids  him  get 
from  the  dealers  corn  of  the  year's  growth  to  the 
value  of  fifty  pounds  of  gold,  and  to  lay  it  up  in 
Sicily  in  places  where  it  would  not  rot,  so  that  in 
February  it  would  be  ready  to  be  transported  on  the 
ships  which  he  would  send  for  the  purpose ;  and  in 
case  there  should  be  a  delay  in  sending  the  latter,  he 
was  himself  to  charter  some  ships  for  the  purpose. 
The  corn  thus  stored  was  not  to  interfere  with  that 
which  it  was  customary  to  send  to  Rome  in  Sep- 
tember and  October.  It  would  further  seem  that 
the  ships  belonged  to  the  State,  but  a  certain 
number  of  them  had  been  assigned  to  the  Pope  for 
this  transport.1 

It  was  not  only  for  the  portage  of  corn  that  ships 
were  employed  by  the  Pope. 

Egypt,  which  was  so  fertile  in  other  ways,  did  not 
produce  timber  trees,  and  we  find  Gregory  writing 
to  Eulogius,  the  Patriarch  of  Alexandria,  saying  he 
wished  to  send  him  some  timber  of  larger  size,  but 
no  ship  went  thence  to  Italy  capable  of  carrying  it, 
and  he  was  ashamed  to  send  the  smaller  kinds.2 
The  large  timber,  it  would  seem,  was  to  be  used 
for  masts  and  rudders  (arbores  ac  turiones)?  As 
Eulogius  seems  to  have  complained  in  a  second 
letter  of  some  wood  the  Pope  had  sent  having  been 

1  E.  and  H.  \.  70.  *  Ib.  vii.  2.  3  Ib.  xiii.  45. 


is 

2 
5 

11 


H 

2  w 

^     H 

H     < 


w  < 

fo  r*i 

O  | 

Q  ^ 

r/;  H 

S  w 

W  o 


ffi    w 


EPITOME  OF  THE  POPE'S  ADMINISTRATION    203 

too  short,  he  again  explains  that  this  was  because 
there  were  no  available  ships  of  sufficient  size. 
Eulogius  wished  to  pay  for  the  timber,  but  this  the 
Pope  would  not  hear  of.  He  said  he  could  not 
charge  for  what  had  cost  him  nothing.  He  adds 
that  he  had  sent  him  some  more  short  timber 
through  the  ship-master  (nauclerium\  and  would 
send  larger  pieces  the  following  year.1 

Such  is  an  epitome  of  the  Pope's  arrangements 
for  the  management  of  the  great  estates  of  the 
Church  and  for  dealing  with  their  income.  It  will 
be  conceded  that  this  part  of  his  work  was  done 
with  eminent  business  skill,  and  he,  no  doubt,  put 
its  finances  on  a  sound  basis.  What  he  could  not 
secure  was  that  future  popes  should  have  his 
training  as  a  lawyer  and  man  of  affairs,  and  that 
the  personnel  of  the  great  establishment  should 
always  secure  a  suitably  vigilant  supervision. 

1  E.  and  H.  viii.  28  ;  Barmby,  viii.  29. 


CHAPTER   VII 

LET  us  now  turn  from  Gregory  the  Pope,  the 
administrator,  politician,  and  man  of  affairs,  to 
Gregory  the  ecclesiastic  and  theologian.  The 
Liber  Pontificalis^  which  records  so  many  monu- 
ments the  handiwork  of  other  popes,  has  little  to 
say  of  those  of  Gregory.  It  does  not  mention  a 
single  church  built  by  him,  and  only  refers  to  one 
among  those  which  he  reconsecrated,  namely,  the 
Arian  Church  built  by  the  Goth  Ricimer  styled 
Magister  utriusque  Militiae.  Gregory  rededicated 
it  to  St.  Agatha,  his  favourite  saint,  probably 
because  she  was  a  Sicilian.  He  inscribed  her 
name,  according  to  Aldhelm,1  in  the  Canon  of 
the  Mass.  The  church  is  still  known  as  St.  Agatha 
dei  Gothi,  and  is  attached  to  the  Irish  College. 
It  was  reconsecrated  in  591  or  592,  and  Gregory 
tells  us  in  his  Dialogues  (iii.  30)  the  prodigies 
that  then  occurred.  He  there  relates  that  this 
church,  which  he  calls  St.  Agatha  in  Suburra, 
had  long  been  closed.  The  Pope  went  to  re- 
open it  with  the  relics  of  St.  Stephen  and  St. 
Agatha,  and  a  great  crowd  of  people.  The  church 
being  full,  a  hog  was  noticed  at  the  performance  of 

1  De  Virgin.,  ch.  42. 

304 


THE  CHURCH  OF  SAINT  AGATHA       205 

Mass  running  about  among  the  legs  of  the  congre- 
gation, and  then  rushing  for  the  door.  This,  he 
gravely  assures  us,  was  the  uncle  •  a  spirit  which  had 
previously  possessed  the  place.  The  next  two 
nights  a  tremendous  noise  was  heard  in  the  roof  of 
the  church,  which  then  ceased  for  ever.  This,  he 
tells  us,  was  the  old  enemy  taking  his  final  depart- 
ure. A  few  days  later,  on  a  clear  day,  a  beautiful 
scented  cloud  came  down  from  the  sky  and  settled 
on  the  altar,  covering  it  like  a  canopy,  which  was 
seen  by  the  serving  priest  and  others.  The  lamps 
at  the  same  altar  were  also  accustomed  to  relight 
themselves  after  they  were  put  out. 

Gregory  made  this,  one  of  the  Diaconal  churches 
of  Rome,  where  grain  and  other  provisions  were 
distributed  from  the  public  granaries  (horrea).  In 
rededicating  the  church,  says  Duchesne,  Gregory 
preserved  the  decorations  of  the  building,  the  walls 
of  which  were  covered  with  a  marqueterie  of  marbles, 
and  the  apse  was  occupied  with  a  mosaic  which  was 
destroyed  in  1589,  but  of  which  a  copy  exists  in 
MS.  Vat.  5407.  It  represented  Christ  seated  on  a 
terrestrial  globe  surrounded  by  the  twelve  apostles. 
Below  the  figure  of  Christ  were  the  words,  "  Salus 
totius  generis  kumani"  An  inscription  seen  by 
Baronius  recorded  the  building  of  the  church  by 
Ricimer,  who  was  consul  459-47  2. *  In  the  nave 
are  still  twelve  of  the  original  columns  of  very  rare 
reddish-yellow  granite,  with  Ionic  capitals,  taken 
from  some  ancient  building. 

1  See  Lib.  Pont.  Greg.  7.,*ed.  Duchesne,  notes. 


206  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

Paul  the  Deacon  says :  "  Other  Pontiffs  gave 
themselves  up  to  building  churches  and  adorning 
them  with  gold  and  silver  ;  but  Gregory,  while  not 
entirely  neglecting  this  duty,  was  wholly  engrossed 
in  gaining  souls,  and  all  the  money  he  could  lay 
his  hands  upon  he  was  anxious  to  bestow  upon  the 
poor."1 

If  Gregory  was  not  given  to  building  churches, 

he  looked  after  their  repairs.     ("  Omni  vitae  suae 

temporae   sicut  novas  basilicas    minime  fabricaret, 

ita  nimirum  fabricatarum  veterum  sarta  tecta  cum 

summo  studio  annualiter  reparabat" z)    On  the  other 

hand,  the  Pope  was  very  businesslike  in  insisting  on 

proper  provision  for  the  upkeep  of  churches  before 

he  would  allow  them  to  be  consecrated.     Thus,  in 

one  case,  Januarius,  a  deacon  of  Messina,  wishing 

to  found  a  basilica,  the  Pope  ordered  the  bishop  to 

see  to  it  that  no  bodies  were  buried  there,  that  an 

endowment  of  at  least  ten  solidi  a  year  should  be 

carefully  secured,  and  that  it  should  suffice  after  the 

donor's  death  for  the  repair  of  the  building,  the  supply 

of  lights,  and  the  support  of  the  officiating  clergy. 

The  deed  was  also  to  contain  an  express  clause 

providing  that  the  founder  had  renounced  all  interest 

in  the  church  save  the  common  one  of  worshipping 

there,  and  that  he  had  provided  the  necessary  relics 

to  put  into  the  foundations.   Although  we  do  not  read 

of  his  building  churches,  we  find  him  conveying  lands 

to  the  basilica  of  St.  Paul  to  maintain  lights  there 

in  honour  of  the  Apostle.     This  was  recorded  in  an 

1  Vit.  16.  2  John  the  Deacon,  Vit.  iv.  68. 


SAINT  GREGORY'S  GIFTS  TO  THE  CHURCH     207 

inscription  still  extant  in  that  church.1  As  Mr. 
Dudden  says,  the  custom  of  burning  lights  at  the 
shrines  of  saints  and  martyrs,  which  was  defended 
by  St.  Jerome,  had  become  general  at  this  time.2 
The  Liber  Pontificate  tells  us  he  built  a  ciborium 
or  baldacchino  (fastigium)  with  its  four  columns 
of  pure  silver  for  the  altar  of  St.  Peter's.  He  also 
made  a  covering  or  veil  for  the  Apostle's  shrine, 
ornamented  with  the  purest  gold  and  weighing 
100  Ib.  The  ciborium  was  removed  to  St.  Maria 
Maggiore  by  Leo  the  Third.  Gregory  built  a 
second  one  in  the  basilica  of  St.  Paul.3 

He  held  two  ordinations  annually,  one  at  Quad- 
ragesima, and  the  other  in  the  seventh  month. 
Altogether,  during  his  Pontificate,  he  ordained  thirty- 
nine  priests  and  five  deacons,  and  consecrated 
sixty-two  bishops.4  He  was  a  strict  adherent  him- 
self of  the  practice  of  saying  mass  daily  and  pressed 
it  upon  others,  and  made  special  provision  for  daily 
masses  in  the  churches  of  St.  Peter,  St.  Paul,  and 
St.  Pancras. 

The  alterations  made  in  the  Roman  Liturgy  by 
Gregory  have  been  much  illuminated  lately  by  the 

1  This  gift,  which  was  apparently  from  his  own  private  property, 
and  which,  if  he  had  been  a  monk,  he  must  long  before  have  sur- 
rendered, he  describes  as  the  farm  (massa},  called  Aqua  Salvias,  with 
all  its  dependencies,  the  vineyard  (cella  vinaria]  Antoniano,  the  Villas 
Pertusa,  Bifurco,  Primiano,  Cassiano,  Silonis,  Corneli,  Tessellata, 
and  Corneliano,  with  all  the  appurtenant  rights,  implements,  etc., 
together  with  two  gardens  situated  on  the  Tiber  between  the  river 
and  the  Portions  of  the  Church  of  St.  Paul,  and  two  small  closes 
(terrulas)  called  Fossa  latronis  (E,  and  H.  xiv.  14). 

8  Op.  cit.  i.  260,  note  i.  3  Joh.  Diac.  Vit.  Greg.  iv.  68. 

4  Lib.  Pont,  sub,  nom.  Greg. 


208  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

researches  of  M.  Duchesne  and  Mr.  Dudden,  whose 
conclusions  seem  incontrovertible.  They  were  par- 
tially based  on  the  practice  he  had  noticed  when 
at  Constantinople.  This  he  doubtless  thought  an 
improvement  on  that  then  used  in  Italy,  which  was 
contained  in  the  Sacramentary  of  Gelasius.  This 
was  not  to  the  taste  of  some,  who  complained  that 
it  meant  making  the  Church  of  Rome  subservient  to 
that  of  Constantinople.  In  a  letter  to  John,  Bishop 
of  Syracuse,  written  in  October  598,  he  refers  to 
these  complaints.  The  usages  in  question,  he  says, 
were  chiefly  that  he  had  caused  the  Alleluia  to  be 
said  at  Mass  out  of  the  season  of  Pentecost  (extra 
pentecosten  tempord)  \  second,  that  he  had  provided 
for  the  subdeacon  to  proceed  to  the  altar  unvested  ; 
and  third,  that  the  Lord's  Prayer  and  the  Kyrie 
Eleison  were  to  be  said  immediately  after  the  Canon, 
and  before  the  breaking  of  the  bread  instead  of  after. 
He  re  plied  that  in  reference  to  the  more  frequent  sing- 
ing of  the  Alleluia,  it  had  been  an  ancient  Roman 
practice,  derived  from  the  Church  of  Jerusalem  by 
the  tradition  of  St.  Jerome  and  Pope  Damasus. 
In  regard  to  the  subdeacons,  the  practice  he 
followed  was  the  old  one  which  had  been  dis- 
placed by  one  of  their  pontiffs  in  favour  of  their 
wearing  linen  tunics.  In  regard  to  the  Kyrie 
Eleison,  he  denied  that  his  practice  was  that  of 
the  Greeks,  for  they  said  it  all  together,  while  at 
Rome  it  was  said  by  the  clerks  and  responded  to 
by  the  people.  Christe  Eleison  was  also  always  said 
at  Rome,  which  was  not  the  practice  of  the  Greeks. 


ALTERATIONS  IN  THE  LITURGY         209 

In  regard  to  altering  the  place  of  the  prayer  in  the 
Mass,  he  said  it  was  his  own  doing  and  not  derived 
from  the  Greeks,  as  he  deemed  it  more  proper  that 
"  the  prayer  which  our  Redeemer  composed  over  his 
Body  and  Blood  should  be  said  directly  over  the 
oblation,  as  was  the  custom  of  the  Apostles."  Again, 
as  to  the  Lord's  Prayer,  he  said  the  Greeks  repeated 
it  all  together,  while  with  themselves  it  was  said  by  the 
priest  alone.  He  claimed,  therefore,  that  instead  of 
always  following  the  Greeks  he  had  himself  amended 
their  old  usages,  or  appointed  new  and  more  profitable 
ones.  He  concludes  the  letter  with  the  words : 
"  Who  can  doubt  that  the  Church  of  Constanti- 
nople is  subordinate  to  the  Apostolic  See  ?  It  is 
constantly  admitted  by  our  Lord  the  Emperor, 
and  by  my  brother,  the  Bishop  of  that  city.  But 
am  I  on  that  account  to  reject  what  there  is  of 
good  in  that  Church  ?  As  it  is  my  duty  to  correct 
my  inferiors  when  they  err,  so  am  I  ready  to  imitate 
them  when  they  do  well.  It  is  folly  to  refuse  to  learn 
what  is  good  because  I  think  myself  superior."1 
"The  repeating  of  the  Kyrie  Eleison,  Christe 
Eleison  at  the  beginning  of  Mass,"  says  Mr.  Dudden, 
"had  been  adopted  at  Rome  as  early  as  529,  and 
was  not  an  introduction  of  Gregory's.  This  we 
gather  from  a  Canon  of  the  Council  of  Vaison."2 
In  addition  to  the  changes  here  referred  to,  the 
Liber  Pontificalis  (from  which  it  was  doubtless 
taken  by  Bede)  tells  us  he  also  added  certain  words 
to  the  prayer,  Hanc  igitur  oblationem,  in  the  Canon 

1  E.  and  H.  ix.  26  ;  Barmby,  ix.  12.  s  Op.  tit.  \.  266. 


210  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

of  the  Mass,  namely,  diesque  nostros  in  tua  pace 
disponas  atque  ab  ceterna  damnation*  nos  eripi  et  in 
electorum  tuorum  jubeas  grege  numerari}- 

These  changes,  together  with  that  referred  to 
in  a  previous  chapter  as  enacted  by  the  Synod  of 
595,  about  the  singing  of  parts  of  the  Mass  by  the 
deacons,  comprise  all  the  changes  in  the  Liturgy 
we  can  attribute  with  probability  to  Gregory,  and 
there  is  no  real  foundation  for  the  notion  that  he 
entirely  reformed  it,  as  John  the  Deacon  and  other 
later  writers  affirm.2      Duchesne  has    shown   that 
the  Sacramentary  which  passed  under  the  name  of 
Gregory  was,  in  fact,  "a  Pope's  book,"  i.e.  a  book 
containing   the   prayers   used   by  the  Pope  when 
presiding  over  ceremonies.       He  concludes  that  a 
number  of  services  in  it  are  clearly  later  than  the 
time  of  Gregory.     Notably,  as  was  remarked  long 
ago,  the  so-called  "  Mass  of  St.  Gregory,"  for  he 
could  not  have  mentioned  his  own  festival.     The 
book  no  doubt  contains  a  number  of  prayers  in  use 
in  St.  Gregory's  time  and  earlier,  but  in  the  form  in 
which  we  have  it,  it  doubtless  dates  from  the  time  of 
Pope  Hadrian  the  First.3    As  is  well  known,  during 
Lent,  except  on  Saturdays  and  Sundays,  the  Mass, 
properly  so  called,  which  would  be  then  inappropri- 
ate, is  not  celebrated  in  Roman  Catholic  churches, 
and  there  is  substituted  for  it  the  Liturgy  of  the  pne- 
sanctified.     This,  says  M.   Duchesne,  has  come  to 

1  Lib.  Pont.,  Greg.,  Bede,  ii.  i  ;  E.  and  H.  ii.  i. 

2  See  the  question  discussed  by  Mr.  Dudden,  i.  267-271. 

3  Duchesne,  op.  cit.  123. 


THE  SO-CALLED  GREGORIAN  MUSIC     211 

be  attributed  to  St.  Gregory,  for  what  reason  is  not 
known.1  A  special  service  of  some  importance  was 
perhaps  first  introduced  by  St.  Gregory,  at  least  (as 
Duchesne  says)  the  most  ancient  notice  of  it  was 
contained  in  his  Register,  and  was  doubtless  first 
used  in  the  year  598.  This  is  the  annual  litany 
(a  word  originally  meaning  a  procession)  which 
took  place  on  the  25th  of  April,  the  same  date  as 
the  Pagan  festival  of  the  Robigalia.  It  used  to  set 
out  from  the  Church  of  St.  Lawrence  in  Lucina ;  a 
station  was  then  held  at  that  of  St.  Valentine  outside 
the  walls,  another  at  the  Milvian  bridge,  with  its  last 
halt  in  the  atrium  or  paradise  of  St.  Peter's,  the 
service  concluding  in  the  Basilica  itself.2 

There  is  a  greater  difficulty  in  deciding  the 
exact  connection  of  Pope  Gregory  with  the  so- 
called  Cantus  Gregorianus  or  Gregorian  Music.  I 
shall  turn  for  guidance  in  this  very  technical  matter 
to  the  latest  authorities.  The  Rev.  W.  H.  Frere 
says  :  "  Plain  song  (Cantus  Planus]  is  the  name  now 
given  to  the  style  of  unisonous  ecclesiastical  art- 
music  which  arose  before  the  development  of 
harmony.  In  its  earliest  days  it  was  called  by 
more  general  names,  such  as  musica,  cantilena,  or 
cantus ;  but  when  harmony  arose  and  brought  with 
it  measured  music  (musica  mensurataor  mensurabilis) 
with  a  definite  system  of  tune  values,  a  distinguish- 
ing name  was  required,  and  cantus  planus  was 
adopted  in  order  to  emphasize  the  fact  that  the 
older  music  differed  from  the  newer  in  having  no 

1  Duchesne,  op.  cit.  272.  2  Ib.  288. 


212  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

definite  tone  values.  .  .  .  The  synagogue  music  of 
the  pre-Christian  era  was  probably  of  the  same 
character,  and  the  traditional  music  of  the  synagogue 
of  to-day  is  in  fact  very  characteristic  of  the  style. 
The  history  of  Latin  plain  song  represents  the 
evolution  of  melody  from  the  artistic  point  of 


view."1 


Substantially,  according  to  Mr.  W.  S.  Rockstro, 
it  may  be  traced  back  to  the  Greeks.  The  early 
Roman  church  music,  he  says,  "  was  pre-eminently 
Greek  in  character  and  personnel,  therefore  its 
church  music  was  not  different  in  this  respect  from 
the  Roman  secular  music,  which  clung  closely  to  the 
Greek  tradition.  .  .  .  Even  when  Greek  ceased  to 
be  the  liturgial  language  of  the  Roman  church,  there 
is  no  reason  to  think  that  any  break  came  in  the 
continuity  of  the  Greek  tradition  so  far  as  the 
music  was  concerned."1 

It  developed,  however,  greatly  among  the  Latins. 
This  was  in  the  main  along  three  lines,  forming 
what  Mr.  Frere  calls  three  dialects  or  styles.  The 
Ambrosian  used  in  the  diocese  of  Milan,  the 
Mozarabic  in  Spain,  and  thirdly,  the  so-called 
Gregorian,  the  last  of  which  developed  especially  in 
Rome,  and  presently  spread  over  Gaul,  Africa,  and 
the  Celtic  lands,  probably  supplanting  earlier  styles 
there. 

The  name  Gregorian  which  attaches  to  this 
latter  class,  points  to  some  influential  personage 

1  Article  "  Plain  Song,"  Diet,  of  Music,  vol.  iii.  760. 

2  Ib.  vol.  ii.  224,  article  "  Modes." 


THE  SO-CALLED  GREGORIAN  MUSIC     213 

called  Gregory  as  connected  with  it,  and  this 
personage  has  generally  been  deemed  to  have  been 
Pope  Gregory  the  First. 

"  The  whole  tendency  of  modern  inquiries,"  says 
Mr.  Frere,  "has  been  to  show  that  St.  Gregory  had 
a  personal  share,  to  say  the  least,  in  the  arrangement 
of  the  collection."  He  admits  that  this  conclusion 
has  on  several  occasions  been  seriously  questioned, 
"but,"  he  continues,  "fresh  researches  have  shown 
that  the  collection  attained  a  final  form  shortly  after 
St.  Gregory's  death,  and  was  thereafter  considered 
as  closed.  Moreover,  a  comparison  of  Gregorian 
and  Ambrosian  versions  of  the  same  melody  show 
that  a  skilful  hand  had  done  in  the  former  case 
exactly  the  sort  of  editing  which  is  ascribed  to 
St.  Gregory.  It  may  therefore  be  concluded  that 
the  Gregorian  music  of  the  Mass  comes  from 
St.  Gregory's  hand  practically  unaltered."1 

Mr.  Rockstro  argues  in  the  same  way.  He  says  : 
"  There  are  many  lines  of  evidence  that  converge  to 
show  that  the  main  bulk  and  nucleus  of  this  music 
is  to  be  dated  as  belonging  to  the  fifth  and  sixth 
centuries.  A  persistent  tradition  ascribes  the  final 
regulation  of  it  to  St.  Gregory  (590-604).  The 
festivals  and  other  occasions  for  which  the  music 
was  written  are  as  a  rule  earlier  than  his  date,  and 
the  festivals  of  later  origin  differ  markedly  from 
the  pre-Gregorian  festivals  in  having  borrowed, 
instead  of  original  music  provided  for  them  ;  this  is 
especially  the  case  in  the  Mass.  Further,  the  text 

1  Diet,  of  Music ;  vol.  ii.  255,  article  "Gregorian  Music." 


214  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

of  the  Latin  Bible  employed  is  an  ancient  one,  that 
was  for  most  purposes  superseded  in  the  fifth  and 
sixth  centuries." l  This  does  not  mean  that  Gregory 
was  the  inventor  of  the  so-called  Gregorian  music,  but 
only  that  he  was  the  person  who  gave  it  its  final  form. 

During  the  two  centuries  before  his  time,  the 
more  primitive  form  of  the  Plain  Chant  was  in 
vogue  which  was  associated  with  the  name  of 
Ambrose.  It  is  generally  supposed  that  in  this 
Ambrosian  style  four  "modes"  or  scales  were 
alone  in  use,  in  which  every  plain  chant  was  then 
written,  those  beginning  and  ending  respectively  on 
the  notes  now  called  D,  E,  F,  and  G,  and  which 
were  respectively  known  as  the  Dorian,  Phrygian, 
Lydian,  and  Mixolydian.  These  were  afterwards 
known  as  "  the  four  authentic  modes." 

Presently  four  other  modes  were  introduced 
which  were  known  as  "  plagal,"  and  directly  derived 
from  the  former,  and  which  were  respectively  named 
Hypodorian,  Hypophrygian,  Hypolydian,  and 
Hypomixolydian.2  The  introduction  of  these  new 
modes  was  the  special  feature  which  Gregory  is 
supposed  to  have  added  to  the  plain  chant,  but  it  is 
clear  that  the  whole  of  these  eight  modes  were  known 
long  before  his  day  and  in  use  at  Rome.  "  It  is  in 
fact  impossible  to  trace  back  the  eight  familiar 
forms  to  the  time  of  their  first  adoption  into  the 
services  of  the  church."3 

As  we  have  said,  it  is  probable  that  Gregory  gave 

1  Diet,  of  Music,  iii.  226,  article  "  Modes,  Ecclesiastical." 

8  Op.  cit.  ii.  760,  Rockstro,  Plagal  Modes.  3  Ib.  ii.  766. 


THE  SO-CALLED  GREGORIAN  MUSIC     215 

them  their  final  forms,  and  in  all  probability  drew 
on  his  long  experience  at  Constantinople  for  the 
materials  of  his  reform.  The  amount  of  Gregory's 
modifications  it  is  not  possible  with  our  present 
knowledge  to  discriminate.  What  we  can  affirm 
as  virtually  certain  is  that  a  large  part  of  the  music 
known  specifically  as  Gregorian  was  current  at 
Rome  long  before  Gregory's  day. 

It  will  be  well  to  realise  a  little  more  closely 
what  it  consisted  in,  since  it  was  this  Gregorian 
plain   song  that   was   imported    into    England   by 
Augustine  and  flourished  so  much  here.     "In  the 
earliest  Christian  days  the  psalms  were  recited  by 
a  single  soloist,  who  monotoned  the  greater  part 
of  the  psalm,  but  inserted  various  cadences  or  in- 
flexions   at    certain    points   of    distinction   in    the 
services.     This  was  probably  but  the  carrying  out 
of  what  had  long  been  current  in  the  synagogue."1 
Presently  it  became  customary  for  the  congrega- 
tion to  interject  some  small  "  response"  at  the  close 
of  each  verse,  such  as  "  Amen  "  or  Alleluja,  or  "  For 
His  mercy  endureth  for  ever."      Later  the  process 
was  elaborated,  and   became  more  like  a  modern 
litany.     Later  again   the  part  of  the  congregation 
was   largely   taken    by  a   body  of  trained  singers 
forming  a  choir,  which  encroached  more  and  more 
upon  the  former  duties  of  the  soloist,  and  the  choral 
melody  called  the  "respond"  was  developed.2 

The  chief  ancient  pieces  in   the  Graduale  (or 
music  book  for  the   Mass)  are,  the  introit  at  the 
1  Diet,  of  Music,  iv.  73,  Frere,  "  Responsive  Psalmody."         2  Id. 


216  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

beginning  of  the  service  ;  the  graduale  with  Alleluja, 
i.e.  the  tract  preceding  the  Gospel ;  the  offer- 
tory which  accompanies  the  preparation  of  the 
oblations,  and  the  communion  which  accompanies 
the  taking  of  the  sacrament.  This  music,  accord- 
ing to  Mr.  Frere,  belongs  exclusively  to  the  fifth  or 
sixth  centuries. 

The  responsive  psalmody  just  described  was 
from  early  times  supplemented  in  the  East  by 
another  form  known  as  antiphonal,  in  which  the 
singing  of  the  psalter  was  done  by  two  alternat- 
ing choirs,  and  the  refrain,  instead  of  being  a  mere 
brief  tag,  was  a  definite  melody.  From  the  East 
it  spread  to  the  West,  and  was  patronised  by  St. 
Ambrose  of  Milan.  The  "  Hours  "  were  thus  sung 
by  monks  and  canons,  the  occupants  of  the  stalls  on 
each  side  of  the  choir  singing  the  verses  alternately. 
In  other  places  the  antiphonal  singing  took  place 
between  two  choirs  alternately,  and  properly  speak- 
ing by  men's  voices  alternating  with  women's  or 
boys'  voices.1  The  music  book  for  the  Mass  was 
originally  called  Cantatorium,  and  afterwards  Gradu- 
ale or  Grayle,  while  the  music  book  for  the  "  Hours  " 
was  known  as  the  antiphonarium.2 

It  is  not  improbable  that,  like  Leo  XL  in  our 
time,  Gregory  encouraged  the  use  of  more  austere 
music  and  discouraged  the  lighter  melodies  associ- 
ated with  the  name  of  St.  Ambrose.  A  sentence 
in  one  of  his  letters  to  Desiderius,  Bishop  of  Vienne, 
seems  to  imply  this.  The  Ambrosian  music  was 
1  Diet,  of  Music )  i.  92,  Frere,  sub.  voc.  "  Antiphon."  2  Ib,  p.  95. 


THE  SO-CALLED  GREGORIAN  MUSIC     217 

also  at  first  distasteful  to  the  great  St.  Augustine, 
who  afterwards  became  reconciled  to  it.  Martene 
says  Dr.  Barmby,  quotes  quite  an  ancient  writer 
to  the  effect  that  in  the  Benedictine  Monastery 
of  Monte  Cassino  Ambrosian  music  was  for- 
bidden.1 

Gregory  was  credited,  not  only  with  the  in- 
vention of  the  so-called  Gregorian  music,  but  with 
being  the  founder  of  the  Schola  Cantorum  or  Sing- 
ing School  at  Rome,  and  his  very  inaccurate  bio- 
grapher, John  the  Deacon,  says,  "  He  built  for  it  two 
habitations,  one  under  the  slopes  of  the  Basilica 
of  St.  Peter  the  Apostle,  and  the  other  under  the 
houses  of  the  Lateran  palace."  It  is  clear  that 
John's  statement  about  the  Pope  having  founded  the 
Roman  singing  school,  known  also  as  the  Orphano- 
strophium  or  orphanage,  cannot  be  sustained.  It 
was  in  existence  long  before  his  time,  and  was 
variously  ascribed  to  Pope  Hilary  and  Pope  Syl- 
vester, and  we  have  no  evidence  of  any  kind,  save 
the  statement  of  John  the  Deacon,  who  wrote  three 
hundred  years  after  the  Pope  died,  for  the  account. 
The  Pope  is  more  credibly  reported  to  have  in  his 
leisure  hours  actually  instructed  the  boys  in  their 
singing,  and  the  whip  with  which  he  chastised 
them,  and  the  antiphonary  he  is  said  to  have  used, 
were  shown  in  later  times.  This  is  partially  con- 
firmed by  Bede,  who  tells  us  that  Putta,  who  became 
Bishop  of  Rochester,  was  an  adept  at  chanting  in 

1  See  Martene  de  Antiq.  Eccles.  Rit.,  vol.  5ii.  p.   8  ;   Barmby, 
Gregory  the  Great,  189,  190. 


218  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

the   Roman   manner,   which  he  had  learned  from 
Gregory's  disciples.1 

The  ruthless  critic  has  also  disposed  of 
Gregory's  claim  to  the  composition  of  several 
hymns,  some  of  the  most  famous,  indeed,  in  the 
Roman  service  books.  "  The  Gregorian  authorship 
of  thesecompositions  cannot,  however,  be  maintained. 
As  M.  Gevaert  says,  '  Tout  le  monde  sait  que  la 
liturgie  locale  de  Rome  ri admettait pas  cette  categoric 
de  chants,  ni  au  VP.  siecle  ni  beaucoup  plustard?"* 

It  is  not  a  pleasant  duty  to  disturb  and  destroy 
the  legendary  embroidery  which,  in  Pope  Gregory's 
case  as  in  many  others,  has  credited  the  great  per- 
sonage with  the  deeds  of  lesser  men,  or  even  the 
combined  work  of  generations  of  men.  In  his  case 
enough  and  to  spare  remains  to  fully  justify  the  title 
of  Great,  without  legends  that  will  not  stand  the 
breath  of  criticism. 

One  great  reform  introduced  by  Gregory,  which 
still  subsists,  was  that  of  the  calendar.  He  was 
the  first  to  date  events  by  the  days  of  the  month 
as  we  do  now,  instead  of  in  the  ancient  fashion 
by  calends,  ides,  and  nones.3  He  was  also  the  first 
Pope  to  reckon  by  indictions  (i.e.  cycles  of  fifteen 
years),  and  he  uses  the  Constantinopolitan  indiction 

1  Bede,  E.  and  H.,  H.E.  iv.  2. 

8  Les  Origines  'du  Chant  Liturgique,  p.  18  ;  Dudden,  i.  276.  In 
Belgium  he  came  to  be  looked  upon  as  the  patron  saint  of  schoolboys, 
patronus  addiscentium  Htteras,  and  in  the  Acta  Sanctorum,  Jany.  ii. 
p.  363,  par.  6,  we  read:  "  Erat  tune  festum  Gregorii  Papae,  quern  frater 
speciali  afifectu  diligebat  ;  quia  in  ejus  festo  scholas  ad  discendum 
alphabetum  cum  aliis  pueris  primitus  intravit."  Dudden,  ii.  p.  271. 

3  Plummer,  Bede,  vol.  ii.  153  ;  quoting  Ideler,  ii.  191. 


SAINT  GREGORY  AS  A  PREACHER       219 

beginning  on  ist  September.1  It  was  reserved  for 
his  namesake,  Gregory  the  Thirteenth,  to  make  the 
much  more  important  rectification  of  the  calendar 
which  goes  by  his  name.  Gregory,  among  his 
manifold  accomplishments,  is  said  to  have  been  a 
skilful  scribe.  Bede  speaks  of  his  having  written 
many  and  large  books,  notwithstanding  his  con- 
tinual bad  health.2  His  successor,  Innocent  in.,  is 
said  to  have  sent  a  whole  Bible  written  by  him  to 
the  Bishop  of  Livonia  in  1203  :  Papa  Innocentius 
.  .  .  Bibliotecam  beati  Gregorii  manuscriptam  epis- 
copo  Lyvoniensi  mittit? 

Gregory  deemed  the  capacity  for  teaching,  and 
especially  that  of  preaching,  a  bishop's  most  im- 
portant endowment,  and  in  this  respect  he  set 
others  a  fine  example,  for  he  was  essentially  a  great 
preacher.  It  is  noticeable  that  among  the  earlier 
Popes  the  only  ones  whose  sermons  are  preserved 
were  St.  Leo  and  St.  Gregory  himself.  Certain 
churches  and  the  cemeteries  where  the  martyrs  had 
been  buried  were  selected  as  preaching  places  by  the 
latter  and  called  stations  (stationes).  On  the  great 
festivals,  when  crowds  might  be  expected,  the  great 
basilicas  were  so  used  ;  on  the  festivals  of  the  lesser 
saints  the  stations  were  fixed  at  one  or  other  of  the 
churches  dedicated  to  the  particular  saint.  "  The 
Pope  arrived  on  horseback,  escorted  by  his  deacons 
and  the  high  officials  of  the  palace  ;  he  was  received 

1  Bright,  48,  note  5  ;  quoting  Bened.  Edd.  in  Ep.  i.  I  ;  Jaffe,  R.  P., 
pp.  93  ff. ;  Plummer,  op.  tit.  vol.  ii.  39,  note. 

2  E.  and  //.,  H.E.  ii.  I.  3  See  Pertz,  xxiii.  247. 


220  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

in  state,  and  from  the  sacrarium  proceeded  to  his 
throne  behind  the  altar.  As  he  passed  up  the  nave 
seven  candlesticks  were  borne  before  him,  incense 
was  burnt,  and  a  psalm  was  chanted  by  the  choir. 
Mass  was  then  celebrated,  and  a  sermon  delivered. 
During  the  preaching  of  the  sermon  the  Pope  re- 
mained seated  on  a  marble  chair.  Sometimes  he 
recited  them  himself,  and  sometimes  when  unwell 
they  were  dictated  to  notaries.  They  were  after- 
wards revised  and  published,  and  a  standard  text 
was  deposited  in  the  Papal  archives.  Forty  of 
these  sermons  are  extant,  nine  preached  at  St. 
Peter's,  six  or  seven  at  St.  John  Lateran,  four  at 
St.  Laurence,  two  each  at  St.  Maria  Maggiore,  St. 
Agnes  and  St.  Clement's,  and  one  each  at  St.  Paul- 
without-the- Walls,  St.  Felicitas,  St.  Stephen,  St. 
Andrew,  SS.  Marcellinus  and  Petrus,  St.  Sylvester, 
St.  Felix,  St.  Pancratius,  SS.  Nereus  and  Achilla, 
SS.  Procopius  and  Martinianus,  SS.  John  and  Paul, 
St.  Menas,  SS.  Philip  and  James,  and  St.  Sebastian."1 
Gregory's  sermons  were  plain  and  simple,  popular 
and  practical,  and  he  seldom  discussed  dogmas.  They 
abound  in  parables  and  allegories,  anecdotes,  stories 
of  the  saints,  of  visions,  and  of  encounters  with  angels 
and  demons,  in  which  the  Pope  fully  believed :  but 
the  truth  of  the  occurrences  was  quite  of  secondary 
importance  to  its  edification,  etc.  etc.  He  also  de- 
lighted in  mystical  interpretations,  which  he  found 
lurking  in  the  most  matter-of-fact  phrases  in 
Scripture,  and  which  were  often  far-fetched.  He 
1  John  the  Deacon,  ii.  18  ;  iv.  74. 


SAINT  GREGORY  AS  A  PREACHER       221 

quotes  Scripture  profusely  and  generally  very 
aptly,  had  an  extraordinary  knowledge  of  all  its 
parts,  and  was  the  first  to  experiment  in  anything 
like  a  systematic  way  in  the  use  of  illustrations 
drawn  from  other  than  scriptural  sources,  and  he 
dots  epigrams  about  his  paragraphs  like  bits  of 
stained  glass  in  an  old  window.  Contrasting  the 
methods  of  preaching  to  the  wise  and  the  simple, 
he  tells  us  the  former  were  for  the  most  part  con- 
verted by  argument  and  reasoning,  the  latter  better 
by  examples.1  His  most  famous  collection  of 
sermons,  known  as  the  Magna  Moralia,  which  he 
carefully  revised,  was  that  devoted  to  the  Book  of 
Job.  "  Of  ancient  or  oriental  manners  he  knew 
nothing,  nor  did  he  look  upon  the  book  as  a  poem. 
To  him  it  was  pure  unimaginative  unembellished 
history,  which  he  interpreted  allegorically."  From 
this  famous  book  the  Irish  called  him  Gregory  of 
the  Moralia?  Besides  this  and  his  forty  homilies 
on  the  Gospels,  he  composed  twenty  others  on 
Ezekiel,  in  which  his  mystical  and  allegorical 
tendency  had  full  play. 

He  showed  great  good  sense  in  moderating  the 
fanaticism  and  extravagance  which  is  a  common 
product  of  the  ascetic  life.  Extreme  Sabbatarian 
views  then  prevailed,  notably  in  Gaul,  and  among 
"  the  Celts  "  (i.e.  of  Britain),  among  whom  any  kind 
of  work  was  strictly  forbidden  on  Sunday,  even 
washing  the  person  as  well  as  the  face  and  comb- 
ing the  hair.  Referring  to  this  subject  the  wise 

1  Pastoral  Care,  iii.  6.  2  See  Plummer,  Bedet  vol.  ii.  70. 


222  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

Pope,  addressing  the  Roman  citizens,  bids  them 
not  be  deluded  by  these  extravagant  theories.  "If 
any  one,"  he  says,  "craves  to  wash  for  mere  luxury 
and  pleasure,  we  do  not  allow  it  on  other  days  than 
Sunday,  but  if  for  bodily  need  we  do  not  forbid  it, 
even  on  the  Lord's  day.  ...  If  it  is  a  sin  to  wash 
the  body  on  the  Lord's  day,  why  is  it  not  a  sin  to 
wash  the  face  on  the  same  day  ? " l 

Gregory  was  a  devoted  believer  in  the  miraculous 
virtues  of  relics,  "which  had  been  much  encouraged 
by  the  great  Church  leaders,  such  as  Basil  and 
Chrysostom  in  the  East,  and  Ambrose  and  Augus- 
tine in  the  West." 

It  is  really  incredible  how,  with  the  decay  of 
criticism  and  real  knowledge,  this  cult  spread  all 
over  the  Christian  world.  There  was  no  pretence 
or  mistake  about  its  meaning.  At  first,  perhaps,  it 
represented  a  not  unnatural  desire  to  possess  some 
object  reminiscent  of  a  person  whose  life  had  been 
exemplary,  or  who  had  done  conspicuous  service  to 
the  Church  or  otherwise,  and  who  had  been  given 
the  ambiguous  style  of  a  saint,  which  was  in  many 
cases  confirmed  by  the  Church  authorities.  It  was 
not,  however,  possible  to  restrain  the  imagination 
and  fervour  of  the  devout  to  this  very  innocent 
form  of  respect.  It  speedily  resulted  in  the  idea 
everywhere  rampant,  that  there  was  a  much  greater 
virtue  in  these  remains  than  the  fact  that  they  might 
be  means  by  which  the  example  and  teaching  of 
saintly  men  could  be  cherished  and  their  memories 

1  E.  and  H,  xiii.  3. 


CULT  OF  RELICS  IN  THE  SIXTH  CENTURY     223 

kept  green  by  having  scraps  of  their  bones  or  old 
clothes  close  at  hand.  The  quite  materialistic  and 
magical  notion  which  doubtless  had  a  pagan  origin 
was  everywhere  spread  about  among  both  clerics 
and  lay  folk,  that  these  objects  had  special  virtues 
in  themselves  by  which  men  could  with  their  help 
be  cured  of  diseases,  or  rid  themselves  of  mental 
or  bodily  distress,  or  secure  protection  against  the 
devil  and  all  his  hosts  or  the  machinations  of 
wicked  men  and  women. 

The  temptation  was  the  greater  because  it  was 
so  easy  to  summon  poetry  and  imagination  in  favour 
of  the  view,  and  it  seemed  to  create  a  direct  tie 
between  the  living  and  the  dead  which  looked  very 
close,  however  factitious.  Thus  it  came  about  that 
the  place  where  the  dead  saint  lay  was  supposed 
to  have  a  suffused  light  hanging  over  it,  that  the 
soil  in  which  he  or  she  was  buried  was  said  to  be 
fragrant  with  sweet  odours,  and  the  remains  them- 
selves were  reported  to  be  the  cause  of  many 
miracles,  and  were  accordingly  the  trysting-places 
of  pilgrimages  and  processions  in  which  thousands 
of  poor  people  joined,  with  a  full  faith  that  they  or 
those  dear  to  them  would  be  thus  healed  of  their 
complaints,  or  protected  against  temporal  dangers 
and  spiritual  enemies. 

Mr.  Dudden  has  collected  from  the  works  of 
Gregory  of  Tours  a  very  instructive  list  of  relics  at 
this  time  venerated  in  France  which  I  will  quote. 
"  Here,"  he  says,  "among  the  rest  we  find  men- 
tioned the  holy  spear,  the  crown  of  thorns  (which 


224  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

kept  miraculously  green),  the  pillar  of  the  scourging, 
and  the  seamless  coat,  which  was  enclosed  in  a  chest 
in  a  very  secret  crypt  of  a  basilica  in  a  place  called 
Galathea.  Here  also  we  read  of  relics  of  St. 
Andrew  preserved  at  Neuvy  near  Tours,  blood  of 
St.  Stephen  in  an  altar  at  Bordeaux,  some  drops 
of  sea-water  which  had  fallen  from  the  robes  of  the 
proto-martyr,  when  he  was  seen  in  a  vision  after 
succouring  a  ship  in  distress,  and  a  shoe  of  the 
martyr  Epipodius."  Further,  it  was  thought  and 
believed  that  the  miraculous  powers  of  the  saint 
might  be  manifested  not  only  through  his  actual 
relics,  but  also  through  objects  which  had  been  as- 
sociated therewith,  such  as  dust  from  his  tomb,  oil 
from  the  lamps  that  burnt  in  front  of  it,  and  rags  of 
cloth  (brandea)  which  had  been  placed  on  the  sarco- 
phagus. These  objects  as  well  as  the  original  relics 
were  deposited  in  reliquaries  (sanctuarid]  and  pre- 
served in  churches  either  underneath  or  within  or 
behind  the  altar ;  sometimes  they  were  borne  in 
solemn  procession,  occasionally  they  were  worn  by 
private  individuals  about  their  persons.  In  the  sixth 
century  they  were  regarded  as  necessary  for  the 
consecration  of  churches,  and  frequently  in  the  case 
of  old  churches  which  had  not  been  dedicated  in 
this  way,  the  omission  was  supplied.1 

A  very  large   proportion   of  these  relics    were 

sophistications,  and  it  is  virtually  certain  that  all  the 

very  old  ones  were.     As  is  quite  well  known,  they 

were  duplicated  and  triplicated  and  multiplied,  so 

1  Dudden,  .  pp.  277,  278. 


CULT  OF  RELICS  IN  THE  SIXTH  CENTURY     225 

that  almost  every  saint  must  have  had  several  heads 
and  a  great  number  of  limbs,  while  the  relics  of  their 
clothing  and  other  surroundings  prove  them  to  have 
had  outrageous  wardrobes,  and  as  having  been  any- 
thing but  ascetics.  Churches  and  monasteries,  to  the 
great  scandal  of  the  pious,  have  had  fierce  polemics 
about  their  respective  claims  to  particular  relics  of 
their  cherished  saint,  who  has  been  something  more 
than  a  mere  patron  to  them,  namely,  an  attractive 
bait  for  pilgrimages  and  processions.  A  huge  trade 
in  spurious  relics  arose  in  very  early  times,  and  went 
on  right  through  the  Middle  Ages,  especially  in  the 
days  of  the  Crusaders,  greatly  to  the  profit  of  the 
Jews  and  Levantine  Greeks  who  trafficked  in  them. 
This  nefarious  trade  has  come  down  to  our  own 
days.1 

The  most  famous  of  all  the  relics  existing  in 
Gregory's  time  were  the  alleged  bodies  of  St. 
Peter  and  St.  Paul  preserved  at  Rome,  about  which 
he  in  one  of  his  letters  gives  a  wonderful  account, 
proving  better  than  any  mere  criticism  the  extra- 
ordinary superstition  which  (in  the  case  of  the  Pope) 
was  consistent  with  so  many  high  qualities. 

In  a  letter  written  by  Gregory  to  Constantina 

1  It  will  be  remembered  that  not  many  years  ago,  when  Cardinal 
Vaughan  claimed  to  have  secured  the  remains  of  St.  Edmund  for 
the  consecration  of  his  great  cathedral,  other  claimants  to  the 
possession  of  the  relic  arose,  and  the  Cardinal,  who  utterly  failed  to 
substantiate  the  pedigree  of  his  treasure,  confessed  that  it  was  in- 
different whether  the  relics  were  genuine  or  not ;  so  long  as  the 
faithful  believed  in  their  genuineness  their  virtue  remained.  What- 
ever the  virtue  of  this  apology,  it  has  the  advantage  of  justifying  those 
who  see  no  absurdity  in  the  cult  of  the  multiplied  heads  of  the  same 
saint  in  various  churches. 
15 


226  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

Augusta,  the  wife  of  the  Emperor  Maurice,  who 
had  asked  him  to  send  her  the  head  or  some  other 
part  of  the  body  of  St.  Paul  for  the  church  then 
being  built  in  his  honour  in  the  palace,  he  replied 
that  he  neither  could  nor  dared,  since  the  bodies  of 
St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul  in  their  churches  were  so 
endowed  with  miraculous  and  terrible  powers  that  it 
was  not  possible  to  pray  there  without  fear,  and  when 
his  predecessor  wished  to  change  the  silver  canopy 
or  covering  of  St.  Peter's  body,  although  it  was  fifteen 
feet  away,  a  dreadful  portent  occurred.  In  his  own 
time,  in  making  some  repairs  near  the  sepulchre  of  St. 
Paul,  the  workman  in  digging  disturbed  some  bones 
which  were  unconnected  with  the  tomb,  but  as  he 
presumed  to  lift  them  he  died  suddenly.  Again,  when 
searching  for  the  body  of  St.  Laurence  the  Martyr, 
whose  place  of  sepulchre  was  not  exactly  known, 
they  came  upon  the  tomb.  Although  the  monks  and 
sacristans  who  were  at  work  did  not  venture  to  touch 
it,  they  all  died  within  ten  days.  Gregory  then  goes  on 
to  say  that  it  was  not  the  custom  of  the  Romans,  when 
they  gave  relics  of  the  saints,  to  presume  to  touch 
any  parts  of  their  bodies,  but  to  put  a  cloth  (bran- 
deum)  into  a  casket  (pyxis)  and  to  place  this  awhile 
near  the  body,  and  when  taken  up  to  remove  it  rever- 
ently to  the  church  to  be  dedicated,  when  the  same 
results  followed  as  if  part  of  the  body  itself  had  been 
put  there.  Some  Greeks  having  doubted  this,  his 
predecessor,  Pope  Leo,  had  cut  such  a  cloth  with  a 
pair  of  scissors,  when  it  began  to  bleed  ! ! !  Thus  at 
Rome  and  in  all  the  West  it  was  deemed  sacrilegious 


CULT  OF  RELICS  IN  THE  SIXTH  CENTURY     227 

to  touch  the  actual  remains  of  the  saints,  and  they 
wondered  greatly  at  the  custom  of  the  Greeks,  which 
was  to  take  up  the  body  of  a  saint  entire.  He 
reports  a  story  of  some  Greeks  who  went  there  some 
two  years  before,  and  who  at  night  dug  up  the  bones 
of  dead  men  in  an  open  field  near  the  Church  of 
St.  Paul.  When  they  were  arrested  and  asked  why 
they  did  this,  they  replied  that  they  were  going  to 
take  them  to  Greece  and  there  to  pass  them  off  as 
saints'  bones.  He  said  further,  that  on  the  death 
of  the  Apostles,  certain  men  came  from  the  East  to 
recover  their  bodies  as  being  those  of  their  country- 
men. They  carried  them  two  miles  out  of  the  city 
to  a  place  called  Catacombas,  i.e.  the  Catacombs,  and 
deposited  them  awhile,  intending  to  remove  them 
presently,  but  when  they  tried  to  do  so  a  terrible 
storm  of  lightning  and  rain  prevented  them,  and 
they  were  thereupon  redeposited  where  they  after- 
wards lay. 

He  said  that,  all  this  being  so,  he  dared  not 
touch  nor  even  look  at  these  remains,  but  in  order  to 
satisfy  the  Empress  he  was  sending  her  some  filings 
of  the  chains  which  the  Apostle  Peter  had  worn 
round  his  neck  and  hands  and  which  had  miraculous 
effects.1  Of  these  filings  he  says  that  since  many 
people  went  to  Rome  hoping  to  get  a  little  portion 
of  them,  a  priest  attended  with  a  file ;  sometimes  a 
portion  came  off  quickly,  but  at  others  the  file  was 
drawn  a  long  time  over  the  chains  without  anything 
being  got. 

1  E.  and  H.  iv.  30  ;  Barmby,  iv.  30. 


228  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

Gregory,  as  we  saw,  brought  back  certain  relics 
for  his  monastery  when  he  returned  from  Constanti- 
nople.    In  one  of  his  letters1  he  thanks  John  the 
Abbot  for  sending  him  the  tunic  of  St.  John  from 
Syracuse.    John  the  Deacon  in  his  Life  tells  us  that 
this  tunic,  which  had  short  sleeves,  was  in  his  time 
preserved  at  St.  John  Lateran  with  a  dalmatic  sup- 
posed to  be  that  of  St.  Paschasius.2     Other  famous 
relics  in  Rome  at  this  time  were  the  gridiron  of  St. 
Laurence,  a  piece  of  the  Holy  Cross,  and  various 
relics  of  John  the  Baptist,  while  a  nail  from  the  cross 
of  St.  Peter  is  said  to  have  been  sent  by  Gregory  to 
the  recluse  Secundinus.3    The  chains  of  St.  Paul  and 
St.  Peter,  it  was  claimed,  were  preserved  at  Rome, 
and  in  two  churches — one  set,  with  apparently  the 
older  pedigree,  at  St.  Pietro  ad  Vinculam,  and  the 
other  in  the  basilica  of  St.  Peter.     The  latter  are 
often  mentioned  in  Gregory's  letters,  in  which  they 
are  apparently  named  for  the  first  time.    The  Pope 
used  to  have  filings  from  them  enclosed  in  a  small 
cross  or  a  gold  key,  copied  from  that  which  locked 
St.  Peter's  sepulchre.    These  were  supposed  to  cure 
the  sick  when  put  on  their  bodies.    In  sending  some 
to  Anastasius,  Patriarch  of  Antioch,  he  says  :  Beati 
Petri  apostoli  vobis  claves  transmisi,  quae  super  egros 
positae  multis  solent  miraculis  coruscare?    The  keys, 
he  recommended,  should  be  hung  round  the  neck. 
The  magical  and  prophylactic  properties  of  such 

1  Hi.  3. 

8  F//.,  lib.  iii.  ch.  57,  etc.     See  E.  and  H.^  op.  cit.  \.  161,  note. 

8  Dudden,  i.  278. 

4  E.  and  H.  i.  25  ;  see  also  ib.  29  and  30. 


THE  MAGICAL  USE  OF  RELICS          229 

relics  enter  into  a  great  many  stories  of  miracles  in 
this  very  credulous  age.  They  were  also  danger- 
ous ;  thus  Gregory,  in  writing  to  Theoctista,  tells  a 
story  of  a  certain  Lombard  who  in  some  city  beyond 
the  Po  picked  up  one  of  these  golden  keys  of  Peter. 
"In  order  to  see  if  it  was  gold  he  took  his  knife  out 
to  cut  it,  but  instead  he  thrust  it  into  his  own  throat 
and  died.  Presently  Antharith,  the  Lombard  King, 
and  his  retinue  came  up,  and  none  of  them  dared  lift 
the  key  up.  Whereupon  a  Lombard  who  was  a 
Catholic  took  it  up,  and  the  King  sent  it  to  the  Pope, 
who  sent  it,  in  turn,  to  the  Byzantine  princess."1 

Miraculous  properties  were  assigned  to  many  sub- 
stances. Thus  in  a  letter  of  Gregory  to  Leontius, 
the  ex-Consul,  he  thanks  him  for  sending  him  "  oil 
of  the  Holy  Cross  "  and  wood  of  aloes,  one  to  bless 
by  the  touch  and  the  other  to  give  a  sweet  smell 
when  burnt.  Dr.  Barmby  tells  us  that  in  the 
Itinerarium  of  Antoninus  of  Placentia  there  are 
mentioned  flasks  (ampullae)  of  onyx,  containing  oil 
which  had  been  in  contact  with  the  wood  of  the 
true  Cross,  supposed  to  be  preserved  in  Constantine's 
Church  at  Golgotha,  and  which  on  this  contact 
boiled  over.  In  later  times  such  oil  was  supposed 
to  flow  from  the  Cross  itself.2 

Relics  and  similar  objects  were  not  the  only 
materials  used  in  the  scarcely  disguised  magical 
practices  of  the  Church  at  this  time.  Thus,  sancti- 
fied water  and  oil  and  salt  were  all  used  in  the 
sacrament  of  baptism,  and  each  of  them  had  to  be 

1  E.  and  H.  vii.  23.  2  Ib.  vii.  23  ;  Barmby,  viii.  35. 


230  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

deprived  of  the  lurking  demons  within  it  by  exor- 
cism before  it  was  used,  and  similarly  with  the 
sanctification  of  churches  and  graveyards,  etc.  These 
and  similar  notions  had  their  real  pedigree  in  the 
dim  twilight  of  early  history,  and  their  most  devel- 
oped parallels  in  the  ritual  of  the  priests  of  Baby- 
lonia. The  phylacteries,  with  their  scraps  from  the 
Sacred  Book,  so  much  in  vogue  in  the  Church  of 
the  sixth  century,  were  in  essence  the  same  as 
the  similar  magical  formulae  known  to  nearly  every 
old  religion,  and  notably  that  of  the  Jews.  The 
existence  of  ever-present  evil  spirits  continually 
pursuing  the  life  of  man  with  temptations  to  do 
evil  and  bringing  him  misfortune,  was  a  belief  most 
vividly  held  at  this  time  by  all  classes,  and  no  small 
part  of  the  work  of  the  clergy  was  the  discomfiting 
of  his  enemies  by  means  of  various  exorcisms  and 
other  methods.  Among  these  the  greatest  favourite 
was  the  sign  of  the  cross,  and  its  use  is  mentioned 
in  many  places  in  Gregory's  Dialogues.  Mr.  Dudden 
has  collected  a  number  of  instances  from  that  work. 
Thus  he  says  :  "  Loaves  and  cakes  were  marked  with 
the  cross.  Men  signed  themselves  when  they  went 
to  sleep,  ate  or  drank.  A  nun  wandering  in  the 
garden  of  her  convent  plucked  and  ate  a  lettuce 
without  first  making  the  holy  sign,  and  in  conse- 
quence was  possessed  by  a  devil.  At  the  exorcism 
which  followed,  the  spirit  cried  out,  '  What  have  I 
done  ?  What  have  I  done  ?  I  was  sitting  upon  a 
lettuce  and  she  came  and  ate  me.'  The  sign  of  the 
cross  was  several  times  used  in  working  miracles. 


HOW  A  JEW  OUTWITTED  THE  DEMONS     231 

On  one  occasion  holy  water  was  employed."1  The 
use  of  sanctified  and  exorcised  water  for  aspersion, 
for  crossing  themselves  on  entering  church,  for 
mixing  with  the  mortar  at  the  sealing  of  the  altar 
stones  and  the  washing  of  the  altar  at  a  dedication 
of  a  church,  all  seem  connected  with  the  similar 
uses  of  lustral  water  in  the  pagan  temples.  A  very 
elaborate  service  dealt  with  the  preparation  of  the 
holy  oils.  It  was  called  the  Chrismal  Mass,  and 
was  celebrated  on  Holy  Thursday.  At  this  the  oil 
for  anointing  the  sick  and  used  in  extreme  unction 
was  duly  blessed,  and  was  then  deemed  to  possess 
special  curative  virtues,  imparted  by  the  breathing 
upon  them  by  the  priest  and  his  making  the  sign 
of  the  cross  over  them.  A  sentence  from  one  of 
the  prayers  used,  will  show  how  close  akin  the  whole 
thing  was  to  pagan  magic:  " Emitte,  quaesumus 
Domine.  Spiritum  sanctum  Paracletum  de  caelis  in 
hanc  pinguedinem  olei,  quam  de  viridi  ligno  pro- 
ducere  dignatus  es  ad  refectionem  mentis  et  corporis 
.  .  .  ad  evancuandos  omnes  dolores,  omnem  infirmi- 
tatem,  omnem  aegritudinem  mentis  et  corporis"  etc.2 
In  many  of  the  legendary  tales  which  Gregory 
tells  us  in  the  Dialogues,  about  which  he  seems  to 
have  no  doubts,  there  is  a  naive  childishness  which 
seems  incredible  in  one  so  endowed  with  practical 
wisdom.  One  or  two  of  these  stones  must  suffice  as 
samples.  A  certain  Jew  was  once  travelling  along 
the  Appian  Way  from  Campania  to  Rome.  His 
road  passed  by  Funda,  where  there  dwelt  a  bishop 
1  Dudden,  i.  353.  2  Duchesne,  op.  cit.  306. 


232  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

named  Andrew,  who  was  a  good  and  chaste  man, 
but  permitted  a  certain  religious  woman  to  live 
under  his  roof  as  a  housekeeper.  When  the  Jew 
drew  near  Funda,  night  was  falling,  and  as  he  had 
nowhere  to  go  to,  he  found  shelter  in  a  ruined  temple 
of  Apollo.  But  these  shrines  had  a  bad  reputation, 
and  therefore  (although  a  Jew)  he  took  the  precau- 
tion of  protecting  himself  from  demons  by  making 
the  sign  of  the  cross.  Even  so  he  was  too  terrified 
to  sleep.  As  he  lay  awake  at  midnight,  he  beheld 
a  crowd  of  evil  spirits  moving  before  one  who  ap- 
peared to  be  their  chieftain,  and  who  took  his  seat 
within  the  temple.  The  chieftain  then  interrogated 
each  of  his  followers  as  to  what  he  had  been  doing 
in  the  world.  One  thereupon  stepped  forward,  and 
said  he  had  been  tempting  Bishop  Andrew  in  regard 
to  his  housekeeper,  and  had  succeeded  so  well  that 
the  Bishop  had  that  very  evening  given  her  a  playful 
slap.  He  was  duly  praised,  and  promised  a  reward 
if  he  completed  his  evil  work.  Then  turning  towards 
the  Jew,  he  asked  how  such  a  person  came  to  be 
there.  The  demons  then  looked  at  him,  and  were 
amazed  to  find  him  marked  with  the  sign  of  the  cross. 
Alas,  they  cried,  here  is  an  empty  vessel,  but  yet  it 
is  signed.  They  therefore  fled.  When  the  Bishop 
heard  the  story  he  turned  away  his  housekeeper  and 
all  the  other  women  in  his  household.  The  Jew  was 
converted,  and  the  Temple  of  Apollo  turned  into  a 
church  and  dedicated  to  St.  Andrew.1 

Let  us  now  turn  to   another   story   in    which 

1  Dialogues^  iii.  7. 


INFLUENCE  OF  SAINTLY  MEN  ON  ANIMALS   233 

poetry  and  pathos  have  a  place.  A  certain  old 
Abbot  of  Praeneste  had  a  prote'ge'  who  was  a  monk 
in  the  abbey,  who  fell  ill,  and  foreseeing  that  he 
would  die  asked  leave  to  prepare  his  own  sepulchre. 
The  abbot,  having  also  fallen  ill,  saw  that  he  would 
die  before  his  friend,  and  asked  the  latter  to  put 
him  in  the  grave  he  had  fashioned  for  himself.  He 
replied  that  the  grave  was  too  small  for  two.  But 
the  abbot  was  importunate,  and  undertook  there 
should  be  room.  The  priest  presently  died,  and 
when  the  brethren  carried  him  to  the  grave  he  had 
made  for  himself  they  found  that  the  abbot's  corpse 
filled  the  whole  place.  Then  one  of  them  appealed 
to  the  dead  abbot  to  fulfil  his  promise  that  the 
grave  should  hold  them  both.  Thereupon  the 
latter,  who  lay  with  his  face  upwards,  turned  over 
on  his  side,  and  thus  made  room  for  his  friend. 
This,  we  are  told,  was  done  in  view  of  them  all.1 
Elsewhere  we  have  stories  of  the  influence  of 
saintly  men  on  animals.  Thus  Gregory  tells  of  a 
hermit  named  Florentius,  who  one  day  found  a 
bear  close  to  his  oratory  after  he  had  finished  his 
devotions,  holding  its  head  down  to  the  ground  and 
showing  no  sign  of  cruelty,  and  he  understood  it 
to  mean  that  it  wished  to  do  him  a  service.  He 
therefore  ordered  it  to  look  after  four  or  five 
sheep  which  he  owned,  and  it  consequently  used 
to  lead  them  down  to  the  field  and  take  them 
back  again  at  twelve  o'clock,  and  when  he  wished 
to  fast,  it  brought  them  later  or  earlier,  as  he  wished. 

1  Dialogues,  iii.  24. 


234  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

This  power  of  doing  miracles  aroused  the  envy  of 
other  monks,  who  killed  the  bear ;  upon  which 
Florentius  cursed  them,  and  they  were  struck  with 
leprosy  and  died.1 

Tales  of  this  kind  abound  in  the  Dialogues, 
and  some  of  them,  as  told  by  the  Pope,  are  sometimes 
fantastic  beyond  description  :  thus  he  tells  us  in  the 
gravest  way  that  Fortunatus  of  Tosti  had  an  extra- 
ordinary skill  in  putting  whole  legions  of  devils  out 
of  possessed  persons.  A  certain  Tuscan  lady  having 
violated  an  ecclesiastical  rule  was  seized  in  church 
by  an  evil  spirit.  The  priest  tried  to  cast  it  out  by 
covering  the  lady  with  the  altar  cloth,  but  as  he  had 
persevered  beyond  his  strength  the  spirit  also  entered 
into  him.  The  lady  was  then  taken  by  her  relatives 
to  certain  wizards,  who  plunged  her  into  a  river, 
reciting  at  the  same  time  magical  incantations.  The 
result  was  that  though  the  first  demon  was  driven 
out,  a  whole  legion  entered  in,  and  from  that  time 
the  woman  began  to  be  agitated  with  as  many 
emotions  and  to  shriek  out  with  as  many  voices 
as  there  were  devils  in  her  body.  At  last  she  was 
brought  to  Fortunatus,  who  prayed  over  her  for  many 
days  and  nights,  and  in  the  end  cured  her  with 
difficulty.2  Again,  another  day,  a  priest  of  Valeria, 
named  Stephen,  returning  from  a  journey,  said 
carelessly  to  his  servant,  "Come,  you  devil,  take 
off  my  stockings."  Immediately  invisible  hands 
began  to  unloose  his  garters.  The  priest  in  great 
terror  cried  out,  "  Away,  foul  spirit,  away  !  I  spoke 

1  Dialogues,  iii.  15.  2  Ib.  i.  jo. 


APPARITIONS  AND  GHOSTS  235 

not  to  thee,  but  to  my  servant."  So  the  devil  de- 
parted, leaving  the  garters  half  untied.  "  Whence," 
moralises  Gregory,  "  if  the  old  enemy  be  so  ready 
in  things  pertaining  to  our  body,  he  is  yet  more 
eager  in  watching  the  thoughts  of  our  hearts."1 

Turning  from  this  subject  to  a  pleasanter  one, 
pointing  to  the  extreme  realism  of  the  faith  of  these 
times,  we  have  several  stories  of  the  souls  of  the 
recently  dead  having  been  seen  which  may  be 
matched  by  the  ghost  stories  and  the  stories  of 
second-sight  of  our  own  day.  "  Many  of  our  time," 
writes  Gregory,  "whose  spiritual  sight  is  purified  by 
undefiled  faith  and  frequent  prayer,  have  often  seen 
a  soul  departing  from  the  body."  Thus  Benedict 
beheld  the  soul  of  his  sister  Scholastica  depart  in  the 
form  of  a  dove,  and  that  of  Germanus,  Bishop  of 
Capua,  carried  to  heaven  by  angels  in  a  globe  of 
fire.  Gregorius,  a  monk  at  Terracina,  beheld  the 
soul  of  his  brother  Speciosus  when  the  latter  died 
at  Capua.  Some  people  sailing  between  Sicily  and 
Naples  saw  the  soul  of  a  certain  recluse  carried  up 
to  heaven.2  Some  monks  in  a  monastery  six  miles 
from  Nursia  saw  the  soul  of  their  dying  abbot  fly 
from  his  mouth  in  the  form  of  a  dove.  A  hermit 
living  at  Lipari,  and  gifted  with  second  sight, 
declared  that  on  the  day  of  his  death  he  saw  the 
soul  of  King  Theodoric,  who  was  an  Arian  heretic, 
without  shoes  and  girdle,  and  with  his  hands 
bound,  taken  between  Pope  John  and  Sym- 
machus  the  Senator  (both  of  whom  he  had  put  to 

1  Dialogues,  iii.  20.  2  Ib.  passim. 


236  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

death),  and  thrown  into  Vulcan's  Gulf,  "  which  is  not 
far  from  that  place."  This  last  phrase  reminds  us 
that  in  early  times  the  mouths  of  volcanoes  were 
considered  as  entrances  to  hell,  as  they  had  in  earlier 
times  been  deemed  entrances  to  Hades,  and  Gregory 
tells  us  the  mouths  of  these  craters  were  getting 
bigger,  to  accommodate  the  larger  crowds  who  had  to 
pass  through  as  the  world  grew  older.  A  message 
sent  by  one  dying  man  to  another,  stating  that  a 
ship  was  ready  to  take  them  to  Sicily,  was  inter- 
preted to  mean  they  were  bound  for  hell  through 
the  Sicilian  volcanoes.  It  is  not  remarkable  (for 
the  belief  was  universal  in  the  Middle  Ages)  that  in 
Gregory's  Dialogues  the  stories  told  imply  a  material 
hell  with  a  real  fire.  His  Deacon  Peter,  who  in  the 
Dialogues  plays  the  part  of  Bos  well  to  Johnson,  and 
puts  the  question  which  the  Pope  answers,  asked 
him  how  it  is  possible  that  a  corporeal  thing  like 
fire  can  hold  and  torment  that  which  is  incorporeal 
and  without  body.  The  Pope  asked,  in  turn,  if 
angels  and  devils  were  not  incorporeal  ?  and  hav- 
ing got  an  affirmative  answer,  he  crushes  his 
questioner  with  Matthew  xxv.  41,  "Go  into  ever- 
lasting fire,  which  is  prepared  for  the  devil  and 
his  angels."2  Miracles  were  the  everyday  explana- 
tion of  all  unusual  phenomena  then  as  now,  and 
in  most  cases  they  argue  an  extreme  simplicity 
in  the  narrator  and  a  want  (which  was  not  felt)  of 
any  critical  faculty  or  scientific  knowledge.  Thus 
we  read  inter  alia  in  the  Dialogues  "of  fish  mirac- 

1  Dialogues^  iv.  30.  2  Ib.  iv.  29. 


CREDULITY  DISPLAYED  IN  DIALOGUES     237 

ulously  supplied  to  an  ascetic  on  a  fast  day  ;  of  great 
rocks  removed  or  arrested  by  prayer  ;  of  a  saint 
rendered  invisible  to  his  enemies ;  of  poison  made 
innocuous  by  the  sign  of  the  cross  ;  of  lamps  lighted 
without  hands  or  burning  without  oil ;  of  wild 
beasts,  birds,  and  reptiles  gifted  with  miraculous 
intelligence ;  of  glass  and  crockery  smashed  and 
made  whole  ;  of  provisions  miraculously  provided  or 
increased ;  of  raging  fires  stayed ;  of  sick  persons 
and  animals  healed  ;  of  dead  bodies  raised  to  life  or 
miraculously  preserved,  or  singing  or  moving  or 
undergoing  unnatural  transformation  in  the  tomb ; 
of  springs  produced  by  prayer,  and  rivers  altering 
their  course  ;  of  second  sight ;  of  the  casting  out  of 
devils."1 

Such  are  samples  of  the  many  stories  told  in 
the  Dialogues,  which  are  utilised  by  Gregory  to 
impart  lessons  in  morals  and  in  dogma  to  his  friend 
Peter,  and  which  made  his  name  so  famous.  The 
Euchologium  Graecum  calls  Gregory  o  SoOXo?  <rov 
rpyyopios  ToO  Aia\6yov,  and  in  the  Legatio  of  Liud- 
prand  he  is  quoted  as  "  Gregorius,  qui  a  vobis 
appellatur  est  Dialogus." z 

These  stories  emphasise  for  us  in  part  the  mixture 
of  shrewdness  and  superstition  which  characterised 
Gregory's  mind.  Here  is  Mr.  Dudden's  judgment 
upon  them,  with  which  I  quite  agree.  "  It  is  certainly 
astonishing  that  the  clear-headed  man  who  managed 
the  papal  estates  and  governed  the  Church  with  such 

1  Dudden,  i.  333,  334. 

2  Pertz,  iii.  351  ;  Plummer,  Bede^  vol.  ii.  p.  70. 


238  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

admirable  skill  should  have  contributed  to  the  pro- 
pagation of  these  wild  tales  of  demons,  and  wizards, 
and  haunted  houses,  of  souls  made  visible,  of  rivers 
obedient  to  written  orders,  of  corpses  that  scream 
and  walk.  And  yet  such  is  the  fact.  The  land- 
lord of  the  Papal  Patrimonies  and  the  author  of 
the  Dialogues  are  one  and  the  same  person,  and 
in  him  we  have,  perhaps,  the  first  genuine  Italian 
example  of  the  mediaeval  intellect."1  The  fact 
is,  the  critical  faculty  had  been  almost  suppressed 
among  men  of  culture  and  letters  in  the  Church, 
who  were  in  continual  dread  of  some  new  heresy 
arising  by  its  employment,  and  who  everywhere  dis- 
couraged the  study  of  dialectics.  Gregory's  touch- 
stone of  historic  truth  was  a  very  simple  and  easy 
one.  He  claims  to  believe  the  stories  told  by  the 
good  and  pious  as  if  he  had  seen  the  events  with  his 
own  eyes,  and  definitely  says  that  he  had  received  a 
certain  report  from  those  who  were  so  good  that  he 
could  not  doubt  their  truth.  Granting  the  honesty 
of  the  witness,  he  held  that  the  credibility  of  the  story 
followed  as  a  matter  of  course. 

On  the  subject  of  dreams,  Gregory  was  a  good 
deal  more  rational.  In  the  forty-eighth  dialogue  of 
the  fourth  book  he  tells  us  there  are  six  kinds  of 
dreams.  Sometimes,  he  says,  they  proceed  of  too 
much  fulness  or  emptiness  of  the  stomach ;  some- 
times by  illusion,  sometimes  by  both  thought  and 
illusion,  sometimes  by  revelation,  and  sometimes  by 
both  thought  and  revelation.  The  two  first  we 

1  Op.  cit.  i.  356. 


SAINT  GREGORY'S  VIEW  OF  DREAMS      239 

know  by  experience  to  be  true,  and  the  four 
last  we  find  named  in  Scripture.  He  quotes 
passages  from  the  Bible  which,  he  holds,  show 
that  dreams  are  sometimes  illusions  of  our  secret 
enemy:  as  " dreams  have  made  many  to  err,  and 
hoping  in  them  have  they  been  deceived " ; l  and 
again,  "you  shall  not  be  soothsayers  or  observe 
dreams."  As  showing  that  they  sometimes  come 
both  of  thought  and  illusion,  he  quotes  the  saying 
of  the  wise  man  :  "  dreams  follow  many  cares." 2  Of 
those  that  come  by  mystical  revelation  he  cites 
Joseph's  dream,3  and  the  angel's  message  to  the 
Virgin  to  go  to  Egypt  with  the  Child.  While  of 
those  coming  both  from  thought  and  divine  revela- 
tion he  cites  Daniel's  report  about  the  dream  of 
Nebuchadnezzar.  "  Some  dreams  come  from  many 
roots,  nor  is  it  easy  to  know  from  what  cause  they 
proceed  " ;  he  contends,  therefore,  that  we  ought  to 
believe  them  with  hesitation. 

To  holy  men  alone,  he  holds,  is  it  given  to  decide 
between  illusions  and  revelations,  and  between  mes- 
sages from  the  good  and  bad  spirits,  and  he  therefore 
counsels  a  healthy  scepticism  in  the  matter.  As 
an  example  he  quotes  the  case  of  a  man  who  lived 
at  Rome,  and  dreamt  he  had  had  long  life 
promised,  yet  died  directly  after.  St.  Catherine 
of  Sienna  similarly  claimed  it  as  a  privilege  of 
saints  to  discriminate  between  illusions  and  true 
revelations. 

1  Ecclus.  xxxiv.  7.  *  Eccles.  v.  3. 

8  Gen.  xxxvii.  5-10. 


240  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

NOTE. — Since  writing  the  previous  chapter  I  have  come  across 
one  or  two  other  ritual  changes,  etc.,  attributed  to  Saint  Gregory.  It 
would  seem  that  it  had  been  the  custom  at  Rome  for  the  neophytes  at 
their  first  Easter  Mass,  immediately  after  the  Canon,  to  be  given  a 
drink  composed  of  honey,  water,  and  milk,  which  had  been  specially 
blessed.  This  was  doubtless  in  view  of  the  very  long  and  trying 
service  they  had  gone  through.  This  potion,  says  Duchesne,  is 
mentioned  in  the  sixth  century  by  Johannes  Diaconus  in  his  letter 
to  Senarius  and  in  the  Leonian  Sacramentary,  but  does  not  appear 
in  later  documents  of  the  Roman  liturgy.  Herr  H.  Usener  (Rhein 
Mus.)  vol.  Ivii.  p.  189)  argues  that  it  was  suppressed  in  the  time  of 
Saint  Gregory,  and  probably  by  that  Pope  himself  (Duchesne,  315 
and  note  i).  Duchesne  says  that  in  later  rituals  the  lustral  water 
with  which  the  people  were  aspersed  at  the  consecration  of  a  church 
was  called  Gregorian.  I  also  think  it  probable  that,  in  several 
matters  of  which  we  have  no  record,  the  differences  between  the 
primitive  usage  in  Spain,  Gaul,  and  Ireland,  and  "at  Rome  were  due 
to  Gregory's  innovations. 


CHAPTER   VIII 

SAINT  GREGORY'S  influence  on  the  theology  of  the 
Middle  Ages  was  profound.  He  was  treated  by 
the  Latin  Church  as  the  greatest  of  its  doctors, 
and  it  is  impossible  to  deal  with  his  life  without 
giving  an  epitome  of  his  views  and  of  his  innova- 
tions in  matters  of  Faith  and  Morals. 

It  need  hardly  be  said  that  nowhere  in  his 
writings  can  we  find  any  claim  to  be  the  infallible 
judge  of  Dogmatic  Truth.  The  doctrine  of  papal 
infallibility  has  no  place  anywhere  in  his  works  any 
more  than  in  those  of  his  predecessors  or  in  those 
of  his  successors  for  several  centuries.  His  whole 
thought  was  entirely  opposed  to  anything  of  the 
kind.  While,  as  we  have  seen,  he  claims  for  the 
Roman  See  the  position  of  being  the  senior  one  in 
Christendom,  it  is  only  as  the  administrative  head 
of  a  hierarchy  in  which  all  the  Episcopate  has  equal 
rights.  Primus  inter  pares  is  the  position  he  alone 
asks  for.  This  again  was  only  in  matters  of  discipline 
and  Church  order,  and  in  insisting  on  every  one 
submitting  not  to  the  Pope's  but  to  the  Church's 
standards  and  definitions  of  truth  and  dogma. 
He  was,  in  his  own  eyes,  the  senior  executive 

official   of  the    Church   and   nothing   more.       He 
16 


242  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

knew  too  well  how  the  popes  had  in  most  cases 
been  selected,  and  the  method  of  selection  went 
on  on  similar  lines  after  he  was  gone.  Like  the 
other  influential  officials  in  the  Empire,  he  was 
really  the  nominee  of  the  Emperor,  nor  could  he 
take  his  seat  until  his  appointment  had  been  con- 
firmed by  the  head  of  the  State.  The  election  by 
the  Roman  people,  lay  and  clerical,  was  a  form  only, 
just  as  the  election  of  an  English  bishop  by  the 
chapter  of  his  cathedral  is.  The  congt  d'tlire 
really  came  in  both  cases  from  elsewhere,  and  it 
has  always  come  from  elsewhere  in  the  case  of  the 
popes.  There  is  more  than  a  witty  joke  in  the 
grim  saying  of  a  later  satirist,  that  a  pope's  election 
is  the  result  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  working  in  the  Con- 
clave, qualified  always  by  the  veto  of  the  Emperor 
of  Austria — in  at  least  one  instance  not  long  ago 
by  the  veiled  veto  of  another  sovereign  who  was 
not  even  a  Catholic. 

To  return,  however,  a  pope  selected  in  this 
fashion  would,  printa  facie,  be  a  singularly  unsuit- 
able vessel  in  which  to  enshrine  infallibility.  It  is 
important  to  emphasise  what  is  a  portentous  fact, 
namely,  that  so  great  and  influential  a  pope  as  Saint 
Gregory,  agreeing  in  this  with  his  predecessors  and 
successors,  should  have  been  quite  unconscious  of 
the  Divine  afflatus  with  which  he  or  they  were 
endowed.  In  the  case  of  Gregory,  as  we  shall  see 
(even  if  he  unwittingly  possessed  so  great  a  gift),  it 
is  clear  that  it  did  not  protect  him  from  some  very 
doubtful  opinions  on  matters  of  Faith  and  Morals. 


ST.  GREGORY  AND  PAPAL  INFALLIBILITY      243 

Apart  from  this,  we  nowhere  find  in  his  writings, 
any  more  than  in  those  of  any  of  his  predecessors 
or  of  his  successors  for  some  centuries,  a  hint  that 
the  popes  have  two  voices — one  when  they  are  sup- 
posed to  speak  ex  cathedra  and  as  the  mouthpiece 
of  the  Church,  and  the  other  the  workaday  language 
of  the  gentle  and  simple,  the  good  and  the  wicked, 
the  educated  and  the  ignorant  individual  popes  who 
make  up  the  very  human  galaxy  of  the  occupants  of 
St.  Peter's  chair.  They  were  all,  so  far  as  we  know, 
quite  ignorant  of  the  distinction  so  vital  and  im- 
portant to  everybody.  If  they  knew  it  they  took 
no  pains  to  give  poor  mortals  a  hint  how  they  were 
to  discriminate  in  difficult  cases  between  the  language 
of  popes  on  different  occasions,  and  thus  save  them 
not  merely  from  mental  difficulties  but  from 
moral  ones  which  might  land  them  in  dire 
punishment. 

We  can  only  guess  what  Gregory  would  have 
said  if  he  could  have  foreseen  that  a  huge  Council, 
meeting  at  Rome  twelve  hundred  years  later,  would 
pronounce  him  capable  of  infallible  decisions,  and 
would  nevertheless  fail  to  offer  any  criterion  of  the 
occasions  when  the  infallibility  was  to  be  deemed 
authoritative,  and  when  and  how  ex  cathedra  judg- 
ments were  to  be  distinguished  from  fallible  opinions. 
He  would  not  surely  have  left  the  position  so  that 
no  two  theologians  could  be  got  to  agree  upon  a 
definition,  and  simple  men  must  be  content  to 
accept  with  all  humility  the  position  that  each  in- 
dividual pronouncement  is  to  be  judged  by  itself 


244  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

according  to  the  a  priori  prejudices,  motives,  and 
interests  of  the  technical  advisers  of  the  Roman 
Curia,  and  of  the  very  potent  Society  of  Jesus 
which  so  largely  inspires  it.  Vicarious  infallibility 
like  this  would  have  been  rejected  by  the  robust 
good  sense  of  the  Pope  as  both  useless  and 
dangerous. 

The  ultimate  source  of  Gregory's  theology,  ac- 
cording to  his  view,  was  not  his  own  innate  wisdom 
and  divine  inspiration,  but  the  teaching  of  the  Bible 
and  what  he  found  in  it. 

As  he  says  in  the  Magna  Moralia,  "  Holy 
Scripture  is  incomparably  superior  to  every  form 
of  knowledge  and  science.  It  preaches  the  truth 
and  calls  us  to  the  heavenly  fatherland,"  etc.  etc. 
To  him  the  whole  of  Scripture  was  directly  inspired 
by  the  Holy  Spirit.  He  consequently  brushed  aside 
as  irrelevant  and  of  very  secondary  interest,  ques- 
tions as  to  who  wrote  the  books  and  when  they 
were  written.  The  writers,  he  held,  were  mere 
passive  scribes ;  the  words  were  those  of  the  Holy 
Spirit.1 

He  no  doubt  felt  much  handicapped  in  his  study 
of  Scripture  by  the  fact  that  he  knew  neither  of  the 


1  Quis  haec  scripserit,  valde  supervacue  quaeritur,  cum  tamen 
auctor  libri  Spiritus  sanctus  fideliter  credatur.  Ipse  igitur  haec 
scripsit,  qui  scribenda  dictavit.  Ipse  scripsit,  qui  et  in  illius  opere 
inspirator  exstitit,  et  per  scribentis  vocem  imitanda  ad  nos  ejus 
facta  transmisit.  Si  magni  cujusdam  viri  susceptis  cpistolis 
legeremus  verba,  sed  quo  calamo  fuissant  scripta  quaererernus,  ridi- 
culum  profecto  esset  epistolarum  auctorem  scire  sensumque  cognoscere 
sed  quali  calamo  earum  -verba  impressa  fuerint  indagare,  etc.  (Mor., 
Praef.  2). 


ST.  GREGORY  AND  AUTHORITY  OF  BIBLE     245 

languages  in  which  it  had  been  originally  written, 
namely,  Hebrew  and  Greek,  and  could  only  get  at 
its  contents  through  translations. 

In  his  time  two  such  translations  were  available. 
— one,  the  old  Vulgate,  whose  origin  and  date  are 
still  so  obscure,  but  which  had  been  the  guiding  star 
of  the  Latin  Church  from  its  beginning.  This 
edition  of  the  whole  Bible  was  translated  from  the 
Greek,  which  was  the  mother-tongue  of  the  New 
Testament,  while  in  the  Old  Testament,  which  was 
originally  written  in  Hebrew  and  Aramaic,  it  fol- 
lowed the  old  Jewish  Greek  translation  known  as 
the  Septuagint.  Beside  this  was  the  new  version, 
which  had  been  made  by  Jerome,  who  followed 
the  Hebrew  and  Aramaic  texts  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment and  the  Greek  in  the  New. 

The  most  important  distinction  between  the  two 
was  not  so  much  the  considerable  difference  in  their 
texts  but  in  their  Canons ;  this  especially  affected  the 
Old  Testament,  in  which  Jerome  followed  the  shorter 
Canon  of  the  later  Jews,  while  the  old  Vulgate 
followed  the  longer  Canon  of  the  older  Jews  as 
found  in  the  Septuagint,  and  treated  the  so-called 
apocryphal  books  as  canonical. 

While  Jerome's  new  version  had  at  this  time, 
especially  in  Gaul,  largely  displaced  the  old  Vulgate, 
the  latter  still  retained  its  hold  upon  Africa  and 
largely  also  upon  Italy.  Gregory  used  both 
versions.  In  the  introduction  to  his  commentary 
on  Job  above  cited,  he  explains  his  attitude  in  the 
words :  Novam  translationem  dissero,  sed,  cum 


246  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

probationis  causa  exigit,  tune  novam,  nunc  veterem 
per  testimonia  assume ;  ut  quia  sedes  apostolica  cui 
auctore  Deo  praesideo^  utraque  utitur,  mei  quoque 
labor  studii  ex  utraque  fulciatur? 

This  applies,  however,  only  to  the  text.  It  is 
perfectly  plain  that  in  regard  to  the  Canon,  Gregory 
followed  that  of  the  old  version,  which  had  been 
affirmed  by  three  African  Councils  and  in  the  letter 
of  Pope  Innocent  the  First  to  the  Gaulish  bishop 
Exuperius,  and  he  habitually  quotes  the  so-called 
apocryphal  books  just  as  if  they  were  on  precisely 
the  same  level  as  other  parts  of  Scripture. 

The  question  of  the  canonicity  of  this  or  that 
book  never  troubled  him.  He  accepted  the  Bible 
as  the  Church  had  handed  it  to  him,  as  a  divinely 
inspired  work  which  she  in  her  dogmas  illuminates 
by  bringing  to  light  its  hidden  things  and  clearing 
up  its  obscurities.2  "The  ultimate  appeal  is  to 
Scripture  itself;  and  the  propagation  of  the  Scrip- 
ture throughout  the  world  is  the  raison  detre  of  the 
Church."3  There  was  no  necessity  at  that  time  for 
keeping  the  Bible  hidden  from  the  educated  laity. 
This  objection  to  its  general  use  only  arose  when 
the  Lollards  and  Hussites  used  it  for  attacking  the 
authority  of  the  Church.  The  usefulness  of  Bible 
reading  was  delightfully  presented  in  a  letter  of 
Gregory  to  Barbara  and  Antonina,  the  daughters 
of  his  friend  the  Patrician  Venantius.  "  I  wish  you," 
he  says,  "to  love  the  reading  of  Holy  Scriptures, 

1  Intr.  Ep.  to  the  Moralia.  2  Moralia,  xviii.  60. 

8  Horn,  in  Ez.  i.  10,  par.  87. 


ST.  GREGORY'S  INTERPRETATION  METHODS  247 

that  so  long  as  Almighty  God  shall  unite  you  to 
husbands  you  may  know  how  you  should  live  and 
how  you  should  manage  your  houses  "  (Et  qualiter 
vivere  et  domum  vestram  quo  modo  disponere 
debeatis).1 

Gregory  made  little  or  no  difference  in  his 
estimate  of  the  two  Covenants,  and  he  argues  about 
them  just  as  a  very  different  person  with  a  very 
different  outlook,  Luther,  argued  at  a  later  day, 
namely,  that  all  Scripture  is  concerned  with  the 
revelation  of  God  in  Christ,  and  that  Christ  is  the 
subject  of  all  Scripture,  and  every  word  and  act  in 
it  receives  in  Christ  its  ultimate  significance.2 
Christ  was  to  him  the  centre  of  the  Old  Testament 
as  well  as  the  New.  The  one  foretells  by  allegory 
and  prophecy  what  the  other  openly  proclaims. 
The  Old  Testament  is  the  prophecy  of  the  New, 
the  New  the  explanation  of  the  Old.3 

This  extravagant  theory  could  only  have  been 
sustained  by  one  who  continually,  like  so  many  of 
his  predecessors  and  contemporaries,  put  aside  the 
plain  language  of  the  two  Testaments,  and  especially 
treated  the  Old  Testament  as  largely  a  cryptic 

1  E.  and  H.  xi.  59  ;  Barmby,  xi.  78.  2  Morah'a,  vi.  i. 

3  "  In  Tcstamenti  Veteris  littera  Testamentum  Novum  latuit  per 
allegoriam.  Utraque  Testamenta  ita  sibi  in  Mediators  Dei  et  homi- 
num  congruunt,  ut  quod  unum  designat  hoc  alterum  exhibeat.  .  .  . 
Inest  Testamento  Veteri  Testamentum  Novum..  Et  quod  Testa- 
mentum Vetus  promisit,  hoc  Novum  exhibuit;  et  quod  illud  occulte 
annuntiat,  hoc  istud  exhibitum  aperte  clamat.  Prophetia  ergo 
Testamenti  Novi  Testamentum  Vetus  est;  et  expositio  Testamenti 
Veteris  Testamentum  Novum"  (Horn,  in  Ez.  i.  6,  pars.  12,  15);  and 
again,  "  Per  omne  quod  Testamentum  Vetus  loquitur  Testamenti  Novi 
opera  nuntiantur"  (Moralia,  xxxix.  73). 


248  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

document  whose  real  meaning  was  only  accessible 
to  those  who  could  translate  it  into  allegories  and 
by  the  most  forced  and  fantastic  of  interpretation. 
He  habitually  adopts  this  method  of  exegesis, 
in  spite  of  certain  warnings  he  gives  others  as  to 
the  dangers  of  this  method  of  interpretation.  Even 
so  Gregory  was  constrained  to  admit  that  in  many 
cases  the  Old  Testament  contained  the  germ  or 
root  only,  of  which  the  ripe  fruit  was  to  be  found  in 
the  New,  and  that  the  doctrine  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment was  imperfect  and  in  many  cases  concealed 
from  the  simple  and  uneducated  "  so  that  the  common 
people  could  understand  the  letter  but  not  the  inner 
meaning."1  He  further  continually  urged,  like 
Luther  long  after,  that,  as  Mr.  Dudden  says,  "  God's 
word  appeals  to  character  rather  than  to  intellect." 
In  order  to  understand  it  a  man  must  lead  a  godly 
life,  and  he  who  desires  to  understand  the  mysteries 
can  only  do  so  because  he  loves  God.  I  shall  return 
to  Gregory's  method  of  interpretation  presently. 

It  was  not  only  nor  chiefly  in  interpreting  the 
Bible  that  the  Pope's  lack  of  knowledge  of  Greek 
embarrassed  him.  The  early  Christian  Church  was 
essentially  a  Greek  church.  Its  earliest  writings, 
especially  the  discussions  with  the  heretical  sects, 
were  nearly  all  written  in  Greek.  Its  terminology 
was  largely  Greek,  and  it  was  in  Greek  alone  that 
many  of  the  technical  ecclesiastical  terms  had  a  full 
meaning  which  could  not  be  adequately  translated 
into  Latin.  Virtually  all  the  theology  of  the  first 

1  Horn,  in  Ez.  ii.  4,  par.  9  ;  Moralia,  xviii.  60. 


ST. GREGORY'S  INTERPRETATION  METHODS  249 

three  centuries  was  Greek.  To  none  of  these 
sources  could  Gregory  get  access  at  first  hand.  He 
could  only  in  part  get  at  the  results  through  such 
Greek  books  as  had  been  translated  by  Hilary  and 
Rufinus  and  through  the  Latin  translation  of  the 
Acts  of  the  Eastern  Councils. 

In  regard  to  the  Councils,  he  accepted  the  first 
four  without  question  and  all  the  findings  of  the  fifth 
one,  except  those  relating  to  "  The  Three  Chapters  " 
which  we  have  discussed  in  an  earlier  page.  This 
exception,  as  we  have  seen,  was  a  very  illogical  one, 
for  it  pro  tanto  made  him  a  reviser  and  judge  of  the 
finding  of  a  Council,  a  position  he  never  dreams  of 
adopting  in  any  other  case.  Except  in  this  instance 
he  was  perfectly  orthodox  as  orthodoxy  was 
defined  by  Councils. 

In  regard  to  the  Creeds,  he  is  supposed  to  have 
departed  from  their  accepted  form  in  one  respect 
only — namely,  in  accepting  the  double  procession 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  was  contained  in  none  of 
the  Creeds  until  his  day,  when  we  find  it  occurring 
apparently  for  the  first  time  in  the  declaration  of 
King  Reccared  on  his  abandoning  Arianism  at  the 
Council  of  Toledo  in  587.  The  innovation  was  then 
made  at  the  instance  of  Leander,  the  Archbishop 
of  Seville  and  Gregory's  friend,  probably  under  the 
influence  of  the  Spanish  theologian,  John  of  Biclaro, 
and  was  apparently  derived  from  them  and  was 
inserted  by  John  the  Deacon  in  the  form  of  the 
Creed  he  puts  in  Gregory's  mouth.  It  is  included 
by  John  the  Deacon  in  the  profession  of  faith  he 


250  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

makes  Gregory  affirm  when  he  became  Pope.  The 
general  adoption  of  the  clause  in  the  accepted  Creeds 
of  the  West,  including  those  of  the  Reformers,  took 
place  much  later  (see  Appendix),  and  it  was  always 
excluded  by  the  Eastern  Church,  as  it  is  rightly 
excluded  now  by  it,  for  whatever  its  truth  may  be 
it  has  no  adequate  Conciliar  authority.  It  was  a 
rash  and  unjustifiable  thing  for  an  alteration  involv- 
ing a  dogmatic  pronouncement  to  be  thus  foisted 
into  the  symbols  of  the  Church  by  the  mere  initi- 
ative of  any  individual  divine  or  ecclesiastic,  however 
excellent  a  person  he  might  be,  and  with  however 
good  a  motive.  It  was  a  bad  example,  and  was 
followed  in  other  matters  afterwards  by  many  un- 
scrupulous glossators  and  interpolators. 

Apart  from  his  acceptance  of  the  pronouncements 
of  the  Councils  and  the  Creeds  on  points  of  dogma, 
Gregory  for  the  most  part  followed  the  earlier 
Fathers,  and  treated  their  replies  to  the  various 
heresies  as  conclusive.  He  was  not  fond  of  polemics. 
The  need  for  them  had  indeed  largely  gone  by 
since  all  the  great  heresies  were  extinct.  The  only 
important  fight  involving  doctrine  and  not  discipline 
which  he  had,  was  that  with  Eutychius  of  Con- 
stantinople, which  we  have  described  above.1  In  most 
of  the  great  Christian  issues  he  accepted  the  lead- 
ing of  Augustine.  For  instance,  on  the  questions  of 
free  will,  of  grace,  of  the  transcendent  superiority  of 
faith  to  reason  in  matters  spiritual,  and  the  doctrine 
of  God,  Gregory's  account  of  His  attributes  comes 

p.  22,  etc. 


SAINT  GREGORY'S  DOGMATIC  TEACHING      251 

directly  from  Augustine,  so  with  the  doctrines  of 
the  Trinity,  of  original  sin,  and  of  Christ's  miracul- 
ous birth.  For  the  most  part  he  followed  orthodox 
lines  through  the  tangled  metaphysics  with  which  the 
discussions  of  the  earlier  Christian  centuries  had  sur- 
rounded the  double  personality  of  Christ,  the  doctrine 
of  the  atonement,  and  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
He,  however,  illustrated  all  these  questions  with  a 
surprising  wealth  of  Biblical  and  other  examples,  and 
with  an  ingenuity  and  refinement  and  an  expendi- 
ture of  acute  thought  which  was  astounding  when 
we  consider  how  much  of  his  life  was  devoted  to 
the  practical  duties  of  his  office.  It  is  really  sur- 
prising how  seldom  he  is  found  halting  in  traversing 
fields  where  so  many  fierce  battles  had  been  fought 
with  the  ingenious  sophistries  and  word-splittings  of 
the  earlier  Greek  writers. 

Where  he  chiefly  shone,  however,  was  in  dealing 
with  secondary  matters  in  which  the  field  was 
open  to  any  amount  of  conjecture,  and  where  the 
opinion  of  the  Church  had  not  been  fixed  by  Conciliar 
and  other  pronouncements.  It  was  here  that 
Gregory  surpassed  all  other  commentators,  since  he 
adopted  the  most  flexible  and  elastic  of  criteria. 
Mr.  Dudden  puts  the  case  with  his  usual  skill.  "It 
has  been  pointed  out,"  he  says,  "  that  according  to 
his  license  of  interpretation,  there  is  nothing  that 
might  not  be  found  in  any  book  ever  written.  As 
interpreted  by  the  allegorical  method,  any  passage 
in  Scripture  may  mean  almost  anything  :  every  word 
is  a  revelation,  and  the  expositor  is  inevitably 


252  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

tempted  to  substitute  his  own  fancies  for  plain 
teaching,  and  to  involve  himself  in  a  labyrinthine 
confusion  of  symbolical  obscurities.  Gregory  him- 
self was  aware  of  the  dangers  of  the  method.  He 
found  by  experience  that  very  different  interpreta- 
tions might  be  given  of  the  same  passage,  and  he 
was  willing  to  regard  all  as  legitimate  that  were  in 
accordance  with  the  faith  of  the  Church."  "  In 
understanding  Holy  Scripture,"  says  the  Pope, 
"whatever  is  not  opposed  to  a  sound  faith  ought 
not  to  be  rejected."1 

We  must  remember,  however,  that  he  was  not 
the  inventor  of  this  supple  method  of  interpretation. 
"In  the  West,  allegory  was  the  fashion,  and  a  sober 
exegesis  on  a  grammatico-historical  basis  was  practi- 
cally unknown.  Before  Gregory,  Augustine  had 
taught  a  fourfold  sense  of  Scripture,  and  after  him 
the  doctors  maintained  a  threefold  (Paschasius),  a 
fourfold  (Aquinas),  a  sevenfold  (Angelom  of  Lux- 
euil),  an  eightfold  (Odo  of  Cluny),  and  even  an  in- 
finite number  of  senses  in  Scripture  (Scotus  Erigena) 
.  .  .  the  immense  popularity  of  the  Magna  Moralia 
in  the  Middle  Ages  is  an  incontrovertible  proof 
of  the  attractiveness  of  the  method."2 

Gregory  was,  however,  its  great  master,  and  it 
was  so  characteristic  of  him  and  had  such  wide 
results  that  a  few  paragraphs  may  fitly  be  devoted 
to  a  more  concrete  treatment  of  it. 

Gregory's  greatest  work,  his  commentaries  on 

1  E.  and  H.  iii.  62  ;  Barmby,  iii.  67  ;  Dudden,  ii.  307,  308. 

2  Dudden,  ii.  309. 


ST.  GREGORY'S  INTERPRETATION  METHODS  253 

Job,  entitled  Magna  Moralia,  which  he  composed 
at  Constantinople  and  afterwards  revised,  was  the 
one  in  which  his  peculiar  exegesis  and  fantastic 
moralising  are  most  displayed.  "  As  a  commentary 
in  the  modern  sense  of  the  word,  the  Magna  Moralia 
is  well-nigh  worthless ;  ...  of  the  original  language 
he  knew  nothing,  of  Oriental  manners  and  modes 
of  thought  Gregory  had  no  conception.  He  never 
seems  to  have  realised  that  the  book  was  a  poem,  or 
to  have  made  the  smallest  allowance  for  poetical  ex- 
pressions, usages,  and  metaphors.  He  understood 
it  all  with  gross  literalness,  and  yet  at  the  same  time 
beneath  the  letter  he  discovered,  or  fancied  he  dis- 
covered, a  wealth  of  esoteric  meaning."1  Milman 
says:  "The  Book  of  Job,  according  to  Gregory, 
comprehended  in  itself  all  natural,  all  Christian 
theology,  and  all  morals.  It  was  at  once  a  true 
and  a  wonderful  history,  an  allegory  containing  in 
its  secret  sense  the  whole  theory  of  the  Christian 
Church  and  Christian  sacraments,  and  a  moral  philo- 
sophy applicable  to  all  mankind."2  "The  form  of 
the  book  disgusts  the  modern  reader.  .  .  .  It  is  the 
endless  allegorising,  the  twisting  of  every  word  and 
phrase  into  a  symbol  of  hidden  truth,  that  is  so 
inexpressibly  wearisome.  .  .  .  But  whatever  opinion 
modern  students  may  form  of  Gregory's  masterpiece, 
there  cannot  be  the  slightest  question  of  its  great 
popularity  from  Gregory's  time  onwards  through  the 
Middle  Ages.  .  .  .  It  became  a  favourite  text-book 
of  Christian  doctrine.  Manuscripts  were  multiplied, 

1  Dudden,  i.  195.  *  Op.  cit.  2nd  ed.  i.  406. 


254  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

epitomes  compiled.  By  the  twelfth  century  numerous 
translations  had  been  made  of  it,  and  it  was  regarded 
as  indispensable  for  every  well-furnished  library. 
Nor  can  we  wonder  at  the  success  of  the  work. 
The  Magna  Moralia  is  a  mine  of  theology,  and 
the  unambiguous,  matter-of-fact  way  in  which  the 
dogmas  are  dealt  with  commended  it  to  many  who 
were  unable  to  follow  the  subtle  reasonings  of 
Augustine."1 

"  The  fanciful  element  in  Gregory's  exegesis  is 
best  illustrated  in  his  explanation  of  numbers. 
Thus,  three  is  generally  supposed  to  have  some 
reference  to  the  Trinity ;  five  to  the  senses,  and 
hence  to  the  whole  world  of  sense  ;  seven  to  the 
sevenfold  gift  of  the  Spirit,  or  to  rest,  as  denoted  by 
the  seventh  day,  or  to  this  life  as  denoted  by  the 
days  of  the  week.  .  .  .  But  Gregory's  explanations 
of  words  are  often  no  less  fanciful  than  his  ex- 
planations of  numbers ;  especially  as  he  is  fond  of 
attaching  more  than  one  meaning  to  the  same 
word.  He  says  :  In  sacro  eloquio  cunt  quilibet  unus 
sermo  dicitur,  non  semper  unam  eandemque  rent 
significant  credatur.  Thus  the  words  'sun,'  'lion,' 
'  ox,'  may  be  understood  in  a  good  or  a  bad  sense.2 
Sometimes  Gregory  gives  three  meanings  to  one 
word,3  sometimes  as  many  as  five.4  Again,  in  his 
interpretation  of  the  typical  significance  of  Old 
Testament  characters  thus :  Isaac  means  God, 

1  Dudden,  i.  195,  196. 

2  Horn,  in  Ez.,  ii.  7,  par.  i ;  Moralia,  v.  41. 
8  Ex.  gr.  somnus,  Moralia,  v.  54. 

*  Ex  gr.  herba,  Moralia,  xxix.  52. 


ALLEGORICAL  INTERPRETATION         255 

Jacob  the  Gentiles,  and  Esau  the  Jews,1  but  in  the 
Moralia,  xxxv.  26,  Isaac  typifies  the  Jewish  people, 
and  Jacob,  Christ;  elsewhere  Isaac  is  a  type  of 
Christ.  ...  In  the  Homilies  on  the  Gospels  he 
has  frequently  missed  the  most  important  and 
suggestive  part  of  the  teaching,  in  his  anxiety  to 
pass  to  a  mystical  interpretation."  z 

Dr.  Barmby  has  selected  another  series  of  ex- 
amples of  Gregory's  marvellous  ingenuity  in  this 
behalf.  On  the  text :  "  There  were  born  unto  him 
seven  sons  and  seven  daughters.  His  substance 
also  was  seven  thousand  sheep  and  three  thousand 
camels  and  five  hundred  yoke  of  oxen  and  five 
hundred  she -asses,"  Gregory  comments  thus  : 
"The  seven  sons  mean  the  twelve  apostles,  and, 
therefore,  the  clergy,  because  seven  is  the  perfect 
number,  and,  multiplied  within  itself,  four  by  three 
or  three  by  four  produces  twelve.  The  three 
daughters  mean  the  faithful  laity,  because  they 
are  to  worship  the  Trinity.  The  seven  thousand 
sheep  mean  the  multitude  of  Jewish  converts,  since 
they  came  from  the  pastures  of  the  Law  ;  the  three 
thousand  camels,  the  multitude  of  the  Gentiles,  the 
camels  denoting  Gentiles  as  carrying  burdens,  for 
the  Gentiles  were  burdened  with  their  idolatrous 
superstitions,  but  laid  them  down  when  they  came 
to  Christ ;  and  the  same  thing  is  shown  of  Rebecca 
having  ridden  on  a  camel,  expressing  her  Gentile 
condition,  when  she  journeyed  to  meet  Isaac,  but 

1  Horn,  in  Ez.  i.  6,  par.  3. 
*  Dudden,  ii.  307,  308,  note. 


256  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

alighted  from  it  when  she  saw  him  ;  or  the  camel 
may  denote  the  Samaritans,  inasmuch  as  it  chews 
the  cud,  but  does  not  part  the  hoof,  for  the  Samari- 
tans receive  the  law  in  part,  but  in  part  reject  it. 
The  oxen  and  asses  are  explained  in  a  similar  style." 
Dr.  Barmby  may  well  add  that  this  fashion  of 
interpretation  "allows  anything  whatever  to  be 
drawn  out  of  the  text  according  to  the  mind  of  the 
theologian."1 

As  another  sample  of  his  mystical  interpretation, 
and  at  the  same  time  an  account  of  the  baptismal 
practice  then  in  vogue,  we  may  quote  a  passage  from 
one  of  his  letters  to  his  friend  Bishop  Leander,  whom 
he  styles  "  dudum  mihi  in  amicitiis  familiari  ter 
junctis" z  He  says  :  "  In  regard  to  threefold  immer- 
sion no  truer  answer  can  be  given  than  what  you  have 
yourself  felt  to  be  right — namely,  that  where  there  is 
one  faith  a  diversity  of  usage  does  no  harm  to  Holy 
Church.  Now  we  in  immersing  thrice  signify  the 
sacraments  of  the  three  days'  sepulture ;  so  that  when 
the  infant  is  a  third  time  lifted  out  of  the  water,  the 
resurrection  after  three  days  may  be  expressed.  Or 
if  any  one  should,  perhaps,  think  that  this  is  done 
out  of  veneration  for  the  supreme  Trinity,  neither 
so  is  there  any  objection  to  immersing  the  person  to 
be  baptized  in  the  water  once,  since,  there  being  one 
substance  in  three  subsistencies  (in  tribus  subsistentiis 
una  substantia  est]  it  cannot  be  in  any  way  reprehen- 
sible to  immerse  the  infant  in  baptism  either  thrice 
or  once,  seeing  that  by  three  immersions  the  Trinity 

1  Barmby,  Gregory  the  Great,  178,  179.  *  Dial.  iii.  31. 


HIS  THEORY  OF  THE  OTHER  WORLD     257 

of  Persons  and  in  one  the  singleness  of  the  Divinity 
may  be  denoted.  But  inasmuch  as  up  to  this  time 
it  has  been  the  custom  of  heretics  to  immerse  infants 
in  baptism  thrice,  I  am  of  opinion  that  this  ought  not 
to  be  done  among  you ;  lest  while  they  number  the 
immersions  they  should  divide  the  Divinity,  and 
while  they  continue  to  do  as  they  have  been  used  to 
do,  they  should  boast  of  having  got  the  better  of  our 
custom."1 

Let  us  now  turn  to  that  part  of  his  theology 
which  Gregory  derived  from  the  Ascetics,  whom 
he  loved  so  well,  and  to  whose  views  he  gave  so 
much  authority. 

Here  Gregory's  attitude  caused  a  great  revolu- 
tion in  the  beliefs  of  the  Church.  With  him  tradition 
meant  not  merely  that  of  the  corporate  voice  of  the 
guardians  of  the  Church's  doctrine,  its  bishops,  as 
delivered  at  and  settled  by  general  Councils.  It 
meant  the  much  more  unstable  and  dangerous  and 
elusive  views  of  the  hysterical,  detached,  lonely, 
self-conscious,  ecstatic  hermits,  monks,  and  devotees 
whose  visions  were  supposed  to  be  inspired,  and  were 
fully  believed  by  Gregory  to  be  so.  Out  of  these 
he  created  a  new  world  of  strange  demons  and 
angelic  beings  and  a  very  material  hell  and  heaven, 
the  one  full  of  horrors  and  the  other  of  naive  poetry, 
which  under  the  shadow  of  his  name  overflowed 
into  every  pulpit  and  every  sermon,  and  eventually 
formed  the  largest  part  of  the  popular  Christianity 
of  the  Western  Church.  Let  us  turn  shortly  to 

1  E.  and  H,  i.  41  ;  Barmby,  Eps.  of  Greg.  i.  43. 


258  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

this,  and  we  will  begin  with  his  notions  about 
the  powers  of  evil.  Mr.  Dudden  has  admirably 
pointed  out  how  the  whole  outlook  in  regard  to 
these  creatures  as  previously  held  was  modified 
by  Gregory.  He,  in  fact,  incorporated  into  it  many 
fantastic  elements  which  came  from  the  excited 
imaginations  of  the  ascetics  and  anchorites  who,  in 
their  solitary  hours  of  meditation,  fasting,  self- 
abnegation,  and  torture,  conjured  up  visions  which 
the  Pope  accepted  as  true  on  the  ground  that  he 
held  their  reporters  to  be  good  and  honest  men. 
Thus  modified,  this  theory  became  the  chief  armoury 
from  which  the  mediaeval  Church  and  especially  the 
friars  drew  their  most  effective  weapons  for  mentally 
flogging  the  poor  and  simple  into  what  they  deemed 
their  duty.  Mediaeval  artists  galore,  drew  a  large 
part  of  their  inspiration  from  the  same  source,  and 
covered  the  walls  of  the  churches  with  incidents 
from  the  supposed  experiences  of  the  Saints,  that 
appealed  far  more  in  their  grim  realism  to  the 
popular  mind  than  the  contents  of  the  sacred 
volume,  which  was  seldom  heard  at  first  hand. 
As  Mr.  Dudden  says:  "In  Gregory's  Dialogues 
we  meet  for  the  first  time  with  the  fully  developed 
conception  of  the  mediaeval  devil.  Here  Satan  is 
represented  no  longer  as  the  portentous  power  of 
darkness,  but  as  a  spirit  of  petty  malice,  more 
irritating  than  awful,  playing  all  manner  of  mis- 
chievous pranks,  and  doing  at  times  serious  damage, 
but  easily  routed  by  a  sprinkling  of  holy  water  or 
the  sign  of  the  cross.  The  devil  of  Gregory's 


ST.  GREGORY'S  THEORY  ABOUT  THE  DEVIL   2  5  9 

Dialogues  is  in  all  essential  respects  the  same  as 
he  who  flung  a  stone  at  Dominic  and  got  bespattered 
with  Luther's  ink.  He  is  represented  at  one  time 
as  making  his  appearance  all  on  fire,  with  flaming 
mouth  and  flashing  eyes,  yet  condescending  to  make 
a  pun  on  the  name  of  a  saint ;  at  another  time  dis- 
guised as  a  physician  carrying  horn  and  mortar,  and 
riding  on  a  mule ;  again,  under  the  form  of  a  little 
black  boy  on  a  bird  with  flapping  wings.  He 
haunts  a  house  in  Corinth,  rendering  it  uninhabit- 
able through  his  imitations  of  '  the  roaring  of  lions, 
the  bleating  of  sheep,  the  braying  of  asses,  the 
hissing  of  serpents,  the  grunting  of  hogs,  and  the 
squeaking  of  rats.'  He  lives  for  three  years  under 
the  form  of  a  serpent  in  the  cave  of  a  holy  hermit 
of  Campania." x 

In  such  representations  as  these  the  devil  has 
lost  much  of  his  terror  and  has  become  comparatively 
innocuous.  He  is  already  the  cunning  impostor, 
full  of  tricks  and  devices,  with  whom  the  Middle 
Ages  were  familiar,  and  his  attendant  demons  have 
undergone  a  similar  transformation.  These  demons 
have  the  right  of  entering  into  human  beings  and 
taking  possession  of  them  on  the  occasion  even  of 
quite  slight  faults.  Witches  and  wizards,  on  the 
other  hand,  are  believed  to  have  had  traffic  with 
them,  and  the  doctrine  of  demoniacal  agency 
already  bore  fruit  in  the  burning  and  maltreatment 
of  the  supposed  sorcerers.  "  The  conception  of 
the  devil  world  which  for  centuries  prevailed  in 

1  These  stories  are  all  from  the  Dialogues,     See  Dudden,  ii.  368. 


26o  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

the  Church  was  substantially  the  same  as  that  of 
Gregory." : 

Gregory's  views  of  the  next  world  were  also 
largely  built  up  by  him  out  of  the  reported  visions 
or  hallucinations  of  those  whose  reputed  goodness 
made  their  testimony  in  his  eyes  have  somewhat 
of  the  character  of  inspiration.  These  were  in- 
corporated in  the  Dialogues,  which  became  very 
largely  the  authoritative  vade  mecum  on  such  topics, 
and  naturally  inspired  the  dogmatic  teaching  of  the 
Church  on  the  subject. 

With  Gregory,  Hell  was  a  subterranean  region, 
as  far  below  the  earth  as  the  earth  itself  is  below 
the  sky,  and  volcanoes  gave  access  to  it.  There 
was  a  higher  and  a  lower  region  in  it.  The  former 
a  place  of  weariness,  but  not  of  torment,  where  on 
account  of  original  sin  the  souls  of  all  the  ancient 
saints  were  delivered  till  Christ  descended  and  set 
them  free.  The  lower  hell  was  the  prison  of  the 
damned,  a  bottomless  abyss  of  corporeal  fire,  created 
from  the  beginning  of  the  world  for  the  punishment 
of  the  wicked,  and  which,  be  it  remembered,  was 
supposed  in  some  way  to  torment  disembodied 
spirits  who  had  no  nerves  and  no  bodily  pain. 
Before  the  Judgment  the  spirits  of  the  damned  were 
alone  tormented.  After  the  Judgment  their  bodies 
were  also  to  be  burnt  in  the  infernal  furnace.  "It  is 
necessary  to  believe,  credi  necesse  est"  says  Gregory, 
''that  from  the  day  of  their  departure  the  reprobate 
are  burnt  with  fire.  This  continues  for  ever,  but 
1  Dudden,  ii.  367-369. 


SAINT  GREGORY'S  THEORY  OF  HELL     261 

without  destroying  its  victims.  Nor  does  the  pain 
relieve  them  from  continual  terror  and  despair. 
Before  the  Judgment  they  are  further  tormented 
by  witnessing  the  blessedness  of  the  good  in 
heaven.  After  the  Judgment  the  wicked  will  no 
longer  see  the  good,  although  the  good  will  see  the 
wicked.  The  actual  sufferings  of  the  damned  are 
not  all  the  same,  but  are  apportioned  to  the 
degrees  of  wickedness  of  the  punished."  See 
Dudden,1  who  quotes  the  Moralia,  Dialogues,  or 
the  Homilies  for  each  one  of  these  statements. 

Such  was  the  horrible  creed  on  the  subject  of 
Hell  taught  quite  honestly  by  a  man  who  was 
essentially  good  and  in  many  ways  very  wise  and 
very  tender.  It  was  made  more  horrible  by  the 
extreme  theories  of  predestination  then  held  which 
were  inherited  from  Augustine,  and  by  the  justifica- 
tions offered  for  it  by  the  Pope  in  very  sophistical 
arguments  in  which  he  attempts  in  vain  to  reconcile 
these  notions  with  the  attributes  of  the  Almighty 
Father  and  the  Fountain  of  all  Good.  The 
Scholastic  theologians  of  the  Middle  Ages,  and 
the  so-called  Holy  Office  or  Inquisition,  followed 
Gregory  very  closely  in  these  matters.  They  also 
became  the  subject-matter  of  thousands  of  realistic 
pictures  and  of  tens  of  thousands  of  sermons,  and 
presently  formed  the  basis  of  some  of  Dante's 
most  lurid  passages  in  his  immortal  poem.  We  can 
understand  what  an  overwhelming  power  was  thus 
placed  in  the  hands  of  the  priesthood  for  coercing 
1  ii.  435,  436. 


262  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

the  strongest  wills  into  submission  and  for  obtaining 
what  concessions  they  wished  from  sick  and  dying 
sinners.  This  weapon  was  used  with  uncontrollable 
vigour  by  the  Dominican  preachers  and  the 
Franciscan  evangelists,  most  of  them  very  ignorant, 
superstitious  men,  and  many  of  them  also  quite 
unscrupulous.  Let  me  quote  a  story  from  Gregory's 
Dialogues  in  proof  of  what  I  say.  "  There  was 
a  saintly  deacon  of  the  Roman  Church  called 
Paschasius,  a  man  of  great  holiness,  much  given 
to  almsdeeds,  devoted  to  the  poor,  and  unselfish. 
Unfortunately  he  was  a  supporter  of  the  Anti-Pope 
Laurentius,  the  opponent  of  Pope  Symmachus  (as- 
suredly a  very  venial  offence  where  the  difficulty  of 
deciding  was  so  great).  He  nevertheless  died  with 
the  reputation  of  a  saint,  and  a  demoniac  was  healed 
by  touching  the  dalmatic  on  his  bier.  A  long  time 
after,  Germanus,  Bishop  of  Capua,  was  ordered  by 
his  physicians  to  take  a  course  of  hot  baths,  and  in 
the  midst  of  the  steaming  vapour  he  saw  Paschasius. 
The  spirit  told  him  that  he  was  being  thus  punished 
for  having  taken  the  part  of  Laurentius,  and  he 
begged  the  bishop  for  his  prayers.  The  latter  went 
away  and  prayed,  and  when  he  returned  the  spirit 
had  vanished." *  Here  was  a  saintly  man  condemned 
to  the  pains  of  hell  fire  merely  because  he  had  sup- 
ported one  candidate  instead  of  another  in  a  struggle 
for  the  papal  chair. 

Such  being  Gregory's  view  of  hell  and  its  in- 
habitants, it  will  be  well  to  consider  his  views  of  the 

1  Dialogues,  iv.  40. 


THEORIES  OF  PENANCE  AND  PURGATORY     263 

ways  of  escaping  from  it ;  these  consisted  of  penance 
and  purgatory. 

In  regard  to  penance,  Gregory  bases  his  position 
on  the  arbitrary  postulate  that  no  sin  can  be  left 
unpunished,  and  he  treats  God  as  essentially  the 
avenger  of  sin.  He  goes  on  to  argue  that  the  eternal 
penalties  for  sin  can  only  be  averted  either  by  self- 
imposed  suffering  (penance)  or  suffering  imposed 
upon  us  by  God  for  our  own  good,  and  he  urges 
that  by  the  self-punishment  of  penance,  sin  is  blotted 
out,  so  that  it  no  longer  remains  to  be  judged  and 
punished.  With  Gregory  as  with  the  Schoolmen, 
the  process  of  penance  is,  first,  perception  of  sin 
and  then  contrition  for  it  followed  by  conversion  ; 
secondly,  confession  of  sin ;  and  thirdly,  the  com- 
pensation made  in  respect  of  it,  consisting  of  alms, 
tears,  meditation  on  the  shortness  of  life,  asceticism, 
etc.  These  he  claims  as  an  offering  of  virtue,  by 
which  we  pay  the  fine  of  our  evil  actions,  and 
which  releases  us  from  the  debt  of  sin.  He  further 
urges  that  our  good  works  must  be  proportionate 
to  our  sins.  Lastly,  he  points  out  that  by  paying 
the  fine  of  one  sin,  a  man  does  not  obtain  licence 
to  commit  another.  He  must  refrain  from  sin  in 
future  if  his  penance  is  to  be  effective,  nor  will  the 
prayers  and  oblations  of  priests  wash  away  his  sins  ; 
every  man  must  bear  his  own  burden  of  sin.  Like 
Augustine,  however,  he  holds  that  good  works  alone 
will  not  suffice  to  wipe  out  sin  unless  supplemented 
by  the  mercy  of  God  and  the  pleading  of  Christ.1 

1  Dudden,  ii.  419-426. 


264  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

It  will  be  noticed  that  all  this  most  elaborate 
argument  is  based  on  an  obiter  dictum  of  the  Pope 
upon  the  necessity  of  sin  being  followed  by  punish- 
ment, which  is  unsupported  by  Biblical  authority, 
where  the  blood  of  Christ  is  said  to  suffice  to 
wash  away  all  the  sins  of  erring  men  ;  and  secondly, 
to  another  obiter  dictum  that  the  punishment  due  to 
sin  can  be  averted  by  self-torture  and  the  abnegation 
of  human  pleasure  and  joy,  or  by  doing  good  works. 
He  held,  in  fact,  that  the  grace  and  the  sacrifice  of 
Christ  did  not  satisfy  the  conditions  of  pardon  and 
salvation  unless  and  until  sin  itself  had  been 
purged,  and  this  purging  involved  "a  system  of 
compensations  by  which  good  works  are  balanced 
against  sins,  and  eternal  punishment  is  remitted 
in  consideration  of  adequate  suffering." 

For  those  who  had  failed  by  this  most  incon- 
sequent method  to  undo  the  effects  of  their  sins  in 
this  life  a  method  was  discovered  equally  remote 
from  all  Biblical  authority,  namely,  Gregory's  special 
interpretation  of  the  meaning  of  Purgatory.  The 
doctrine  of  Purgatory,  which  also  became  an  awful 
instrument  terrorising  men  and  women  and  for 
extorting  money  from  them  in  later  times,  was  still 
undeveloped.  Gregory  was  the  first  of  the  Fathers 
to  lay  down  that  this  doctrine  "  ought  to  be  believed" 
It  had  been  long  taught  that  at  the  Day  of  Judgment 
all  men  would  be  called  upon  to  purge  their  sins  by 
a  fiery  ordeal,  and  Augustine  had  gone  so  far  as  to 
offer  a  pious  opinion  only  that  the  souls  of  some 
might  have  to  suffer  this  purgation  in  the  inter- 


SAINT  GREGORY'S  THEORY  OF  PURGATORY  265 

mediate  state,  but  the  opinion  (in  the  West  at  least) 
was  almost  universal  that  this  purgation  took  place 
only  at  the  Judgment.  Gregory  distinguishes  three 
classes  of  men  :  the  utterly  bad,  who  on  their  death 
go  immediately  to  hell ;  the  completely  good,  who 
similarly  go  to  heaven,  "  and  enjoy  the  vision  of 
God  even  before  the  Judgment " ;  and  those  who  are 
too  good  for  one  place  and  too  bad  for  the  other,  and 
only  imperfectly  good,  and  who,  according  to  him, 
at  their  deaths  go  at  once  into  purgatory  and  there 
remain  till  the  Judgment.  He  thus  dogmatically 
lays  down  what  was  quite  a  new  doctrine,  for  which 
there  is  no  authority  whatever  except  his  obiter 
dictum.  The  only  authority  he  cites,  in  fact,  is 
i  Corinthians  iii.  12. 

In  one  of  the  Dialogues,  iv.  41,  he  seems  to 
excuse  his  departure  from  primitive  tradition  in  this 
matter.  He  says  :  "  The  future  age  is  now  so  near 
at  hand  that  it  almost  touches  us,  and  therefore  its 
nature  is  more  nearly  revealed.  We  stand  as  it 
were  in  the  twilight  of  the  dawn,  and  the  light  is 
already  breaking  in." 

Gregory  affirms  further  that  the  prayers  of  the 
faithful  on  earth  may  shorten  and  soften  the  pains 
of  purgatory,  which  may  also  be  lightened  by  the 
offering  of  the  Eucharistic  sacrifice.1 

While  Gregory  taught  that  the  souls  of  the  good 
would  immediately  on  their  death  go  to  heaven,  he 
held  that  it  was  only  after  the  Judgment  that  they 
would  be  joined  by  their  bodies.  In  regard  to  this 

1  Dialogues,  iv.  40 ;  Dudden,  ii.  429. 


266  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

latter  view  he  allows  that  many  of  his  contempor- 
aries had  questioned  the  possibility  of  the  body  of 
man  being  restored  from  the  dust  into  which  it 
had  been  resolved.  He  argued  at  great  length 
the  other  way,  and  doubtless  largely  fathered  the 
mediaeval  view  on  the  subject,  Let  us  now  pass 
on  again. 

The  sixth  and  seventh  centuries  were  famous, 
among  other  things,  for  the  number  of  "saints" 
which  were  added  to  the  muster-roll  of  that  motley 
body.  What  constitutes  a  saint  in  the  technical 
sense  has,  so  far  as  I  know,  never  been  defined.  A 
great  many  of  them  were  very  worldly  saints,  and 
the  title  was  very  easily  obtained.  In  Ireland, 
apparently,  all  the  members  of  certain  families 
were  styled  saints,  as  all  Roman  Catholic  priests 
are  now  called  father  (a  style  rejected  by  Christ 
when  applied  to  Himself),  while  any  man  who  led 
a  fairly  exemplary  life  in  those  wicked  days,  or  did 
the  Church  an  eminent  service,  obtained  the  dis- 
tinction almost  as  a  matter  of  course.  Gregory, 
however,  would  appear  to  have  limited  the  meaning 
of  the  term  saint  a  good  deal  more  than  his  contem- 
poraries ;  and,  judging  from  one  of  the  canons  passed 
at  his  Synod  of  Rome  in  595,  he  held  that  the  only 
people  who  were  worthy  to  be  so  treated  were  the 
apostles  and  martyrs.  He  also,  as  Mr.  Dudden 
says,  never  teaches,  like  his  namesake  of  Tours, 
that  the  invocation  of  saints  is  a  necessary  part  of 
a  Christian's  duty,  or  that  their  assistance  is  in 
any  sense  indispensable  for  salvation.  Rather 


ST.  GREGORY  ON  INVOCATION  OF  SAINTS     267 

his  doctrine  seems  to  be  in  general  accord  with 
that  approved  by  the  Council  of  Trent,  that  the 
saints  reigning  with  Christ  offer  their  prayers  to 
God  for  man,  and  that  it  is  "a  good  and  useful 
practice "  to  invoke  their  prayers,  assistance,  and 
protection.1 

The  lucky  people  who  were  pronounced  to  be 
saints  were  presumed  to  have  gone  to  heaven 
immediately  on  their  death,  and  it  became  the 
fashion  to  appeal  to  them  to  intercede  for  their 
protdges.  They  were  thus  supposed  not  only  to 
work  for  the  latter,  but  themselves  to  do  miracles 
after  their  death.  The  practice  of  invoking  them 
was  much  approved  by  Gregory,  who  quotes  many 
examples  of  cases  where  the  saints  are  supposed 
to  have  appeared  and  lent  their  support  to  poor 
struggling  mortals  and  brought  benefits  to  them 
after  such  appeals. 

In  a  sermon  preached  on  the  festival  of  SS. 
Processus  and  Martinian,  he  says  :  "  Make  these 
saints,  beloved,  your  patrons  in  your  trial  before  the 
severe  Judge ;  take  them  as  your  defenders  in  the 
day  of  the  awful  terror.  .  .  .  Behold  the  severe 
Judge,  Jesus  is  coming.  There  is  before  us  the 
terror  of  that  mighty  army  of  Angels  and  Arch- 
angels. In  that  assembly  our  case  will  be  tried. 
.  .  .  The  Holy  Martyrs  are  here  ready  to  be  our 
defenders.  They  wish  to  be  asked  ;  I  may  say  they 
beg  us  to  beg  them.  Seek  them  then  to  support 
your  prayer,  fly  to  them  to  protect  you  from  your 

1  Dudden,  ii.  371. 


268  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

guilt;  for  the  Judge  Himself  wishes  to  be  entreated 
that  He  may  not  punish  sinners."1 

It  has  been  often  remarked  how  very  seldom 
Gregory  mentions  the  Virgin,  whose  cult  had  then 
scarcely  begun  in  the  West.  He  nowhere  refers  to 
her  having  been  without  actual  sin,  as  was  stated  by 
St.  Augustine,  but  speaks  expressly  of  the  sinfulness 
of  all  human  beings  except  Christ  Himself.  Nowhere 
does  he  mention  the  Assumption  of  the  Virgin 
which  is  spoken  of  by  his  contemporary  Gregory 
of  Tours.  Nor  does  he  in  any  way  countenance 
the  doctrine  of  the  Immaculate  Conception,  declar- 
ing, on  the  contrary,  that  Christ  alone  was  conceived 
without  sin.2  He,  however,  unmistakably  affirms 
the  perpetual  virginity  of  Mary.3 

The  best  proof  that  the  cult  of  the  Virgin  in  the 
sense  understood  in  the  modern  Roman  Church 
had  not  begun  in  the  time  of  Gregory  in  Italy,  is 
to  be  found  in  a  remarkable  fact  pointed  out  in  the 
very  neutral  pages  of  Duchesne.  He  says,  speaking 
of  the  four  festivals  of  the  Presentation,  generally 
known  as  the  Purification  of  the  Blessed  Virgin 
(i4th  February),  the  Annunciation  (25th  March),  the 
Nativity  (8th  September),  and  the  death  (dormitio) 
of  the  Virgin  (i5th  August) :  "  It  is  certain  that  they 
were  not  yet  in  existence  in  the  time  of  Gregory. 
Not  only  does  he  never  make  mention  of  them,  but 
the  same  is  true  of  all  the  documents  bearing  on  the 

1  Horn,  in  Ez.  xxxii.  8  ;  Dudden,  ii.  369,  370. 

2  Moralia,  xi.  70,  xviii.  84  ;  Horn,  in  Ez.  ii.  4,  par.  17. 

3  Moralia,  xxiv.  3,  xviii.  85  ;   Horn,  in  Ez.  xxvi.  par.  I,  xxxviii. 
par.  3  ;  Exp.  in  Sept.  Psalm.  Poenit.  v.  27  ;  Dudden,  ii.  373. 


HIS  SLIGHT  REFERENCES  TO  "THE  VIRGIN"   269 

Roman  usage  prior  to,  or  considered  to  be  prior  to, 
the  seventh  century,  such  as  the  Calendar  of  Carth- 
age, the  Leonian  Sacramentary,  etc."  But  what  is 
still  more  conclusive,  these  festivals  were  still 
unknown  to  the  Anglo-Saxon  Church  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  eighth  century.  They  do  not  appear 
either  in  the  Auxerre  recension  of  the  Hieronymian 
Martyrology  or  in  the  Gallican  liturgical  books. 
These  four  festivals,  Duchesne  says,  were  of  Byzan- 
tine importation,  and  were  introduced  in  the  first 
place  at  Rome.  The  countries  of  the  Gallican  rite 
knew  nothing  of  them  until  they  adopted  the  Roman 
liturgy.1  The  Church  of  "Rome"  in  Italy  seems 
to  have  celebrated  no  festival  of  the  Virgin  before 
the  seventh  century.2  Gregory's  references  to  the 
Virgin  in  the  Dialogues  are  extraordinarily  few 
considering  what  a  place  she  fills  in  the  later  litera- 
ture of  the  Church.  He  only  once  refers  to  an 
invocation  of  Mary  when  he  tells  a  story  of  a  Bishop 
Bonifacius,  whose  nephew,  a  priest,  having  sold  his 
horse  for  twelve  crowns,  laid  them  up  in  a  chest. 
Being  abroad  upon  some  business,  certain  poor 
people  pitifully  begged  of  the  Bishop  for  some 
relief.  Having  no  money  by  him,  and  not  wishing 
to  send  them  home  empty-handed,  he  accordingly 
broke  open  his  nephew's  strong  box  and  took  the 
twelve  crowns,  which  he  gave  to  the  poor  folk.  On 
his  return  the  latter  was  very  angry,  and  abused  his 
uncle,  saying,  "  All  others  can  live  with  you;  I  alone 
am  not  suffered  to  be  quiet.  Give  me  my  money 
1  Duchesne,  Christian  Worship,  272,  273.  2  Ib,  271-273. 


270  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

which  you  have  taken  out  of  the  box."  To  appease 
him  he  went  into  the  Church  of  the  Virgin  Mary, 
and,  lifting  up  his  hands  with  his  vestment  upon 
them,  he  prayed  to  her,  and  received  in  answer  to 
his  prayer  a  miraculous  gift  of  twelve  gold  solidi 
"as  bright  as  if  they  had  just  come  from  the  mint." 
These  he  cast  at  the  raging  priest,  at  the  same 
time  denouncing  him  for  his  intention  of  using  the 
hidden  money  for  simony.1 

In  another  place  in  which  a  story  of  the 
Virgin  is  related,  she  is  said  to  have  appeared  in 
a  vision  to  a  little  maiden  called  Musa,  and  shown 
her  several  other  little  people  of  her  own  years 
clad  in  white,  and  asked  her  whether  she  wished 
to  join  them  and  enter  her  service.  On  her  assent- 
ing, the  Virgin  bade  her  put  away  her  laughter  and 
pastimes  and  adopt  a  serious  life,  and  said  that 
in  thirty  days  she  should  join  the  company  she 
had  seen.  When  the  thirtieth  day  arrived,  being 
ill  of  an  ague,  she  saw  the  Virgin  and  her  company, 
who  bade  her  join  them.  Upon  this  she  twice  said, 
"  Behold,  blessed  Lady,  I  come."  In  his  comment 
on  the  story  the  Pope  says,  "  Seeing  mankind  is 
subject  to  many  and  innumerable  vices,  I  think  that 
the  greatest  part  of  heaven  is  replenished  with  little 
children  and  infants."2  Many  similar  stories,  but 
not  perhaps  so  naive,  could  be  gathered  from  later 
legends,  the  one  associated  with  Lourdes  being 
especially  notable. 

On  the  subject  of  angels  Gregory's  vivid  imagina- 

1  Dialogues )  i.  9.  2  Ib.  iv.  17. 


SAINT  GREGORY  ON  ANGELS  271 

tion  produced  a  very  remarkable  new  departure,  which 
was  also  a  great  source  of  inspiration  to  mediaeval 
painters  and  preachers,  and  fixed  in  a  settled  form 
the  many  aspects  of  this  very  intangible  subject 
which  had  arisen  in  the  visions  and  ecstatic  thought 
of  numberless  ascetics  and  anchorites  and  simple 
people.  Like  Augustine,  he  treats  the  angels  as 
creatures  who,  with  men  alone,  have  the  gift  of 
reason,  both  being  made  in  the  image  of  God  and 
as  being  in  substance  intermediate  between  God 
and  man.  He  treats  them  as  endowed  with  vast 
knowledge,  but  as  quite  incap  ableof  understanding 
or  rivalling  the  infinitude  of  God.  Like  all  things 
created  they  are  liable  to  change,  "otherwise,"  he 
argued,  "  'the  great  apostasy '  would  not  have  been 
possible."  They  are  absolutely  free  from  sin,  and 
are  never  weary  of  contemplating  the  Almighty. 
In  regard  to  their  functions,  they  first  govern  the 
world  in  general ;  secondly,  they  regulate,  assist,  and 
champion  various  nations.  Thus  he  argued  that 
the  angel  who  spoke  to  Daniel  was  the  guardian  of 
the  Jews  of  the  Captivity,  while  Michael  protected 
those  who  remained  in  Judaea.  They  only  fight  for 
their  proteges  when  the  latter  are  doing  right. 
Thirdly,  they  protect  and  minister  to  individuals ; 
and  lastly,  they  act  as  direct  messengers  and  envoys 
from  God  to  man.  They  communicate  sometimes 
by  words,  and  at  others  by  things,  by  mental  images, 
by  heavenly  substances  (as  a  voice  from  a  cloud),  or 
by  worldly  substances  (as  the  voice  of  Balaam's  ass). 
They  are  divided  into  different  grades  and  orders. 


272  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

The  angels  proper  carry  messages  of  small  import- 
ance to  men,  the  archangels  messages  of  greater 
importance.  The  latter  alone  have  names ;  each 
order,  nine  in  all,  up  to  the  seraphim,  has  its 
special  vocation,  which  he  describes.  The  original 
number  of  the  angels  was  reduced  by  Satan's 
apostasy,  and  will  be  restored  at  the  end  of  the 
world  when  the  several  places  left  vacant  in  the 
various  orders  will  be  filled  by  the  redeemed  of  man- 
kind, and  Gregory  apparently  taught  that  it  was  in 
order  to  fill  up  the  deficiency  among  the  original 
number  of  angels  that  man  was  created.  Angels 
were  not  to  be  worshipped,  for  since  the  Incarna- 
tion man  was  no  longer  inferior  to  the  angels.1  This 
is  a  good  sample  of  Gregory's  method  of  deductive 
reasoning  and  of  using  purely  arbitrary  premises 
in  his  arguments,  and  thus  making  a  parade  of 
knowledge  which  is  really  nothing  more  than 
fantastic  imagining.  In  this  he  was  really  a  fore- 
runner of  the  Schoolmen  for  whom  he  provided  so 
many  subjects. 

In  Gregory's  scheme  of  arrangement  for  the 
heavenly  hierarchy  he  differs  in  one  respect  from 
his  predecessor,  the  Pseudo  Dionysius,2  in  putting 
"  the  Virtues "  on  a  more  exalted  plane.  The 
Scholastic  writers  eventually  adopted  the  view  of 
the  latter,  and  Dante  describes  the  Pope  as  smiling 
when,  on  entering  heaven  and  viewing  the  angelic 
host,  he  realised  the  mistake  he  had  made.  Dante's 
lines  run  thus  : — 

1  Dudden,  358-364.  s  De  Cod,  ffzer,  ch.  6-9. 


VISION  OF  HEAVEN  FROM  THE  DIALOGUES  273 

"  E  Dionisio  con  tanto  disio 
A  contemplar  questi  ordini  si  mise, 
Che  li  uomo  e  distinse,  com'io. 
Ma  Gregorio  da  lui  poi  si  divise: 
Onde  si  tosto,  come  gli  occhi  aperse 
In  questo  ciel,  di  se  medesmo  rise." 

Paradiso,  xxviii. ;  see  also  Dudden,  ii.  361. 

In  one  of  the  stories  told  by  Gregory  in  his 
Dialogues,  we  have  a  picture  of  the  next  world 
which  is  apparently  the  first  example  of  a  long 
series  culminating  in  the  wonderful  creations  of 
Dante,  and  which  it  may  be  interesting  to  some  to 
read  it  as  Gregory  tells  it.  I  shall  give  it  in  the 
quaint  words  of  a  seventeenth-century  translator. 

"A  certain  soldier  at  the  time  of  the  recent 
plague  being  brought  to  the  point  of  death,  his  soul 
was  carried  out  of  his  body  and  lay  void  of  all  sense 
and  feeling,  but  coming  quickly  again  to  himself, 
he  told  them  that  were  present,  what  strange  things 
he  had  seen.  He  said  he  saw  a  bridge,  under 
which  a  black  and  murky  river  did  run,  that  had  a 
filthy  and  intolerable  smell :  but  upon  the  farther 
side  thereof  there  were  pleasant  green  meadows  full 
of  sweet  flowers,  in  which  there  were  also  divers  com- 
panies of  men  apparelled  in  white :  and  there  was 
such  a  delicate  savour  that  the  fragrant  odour  thereof 
did  give  wonderful  content  to  all  them  that  dwelt  and 
walked  in  that  place.  Divers  particular  mansions 
also  there  were,  all  shining  with  brightness  and  light, 
and  especially  one  magnificent  and  sumptuous  house, 
which  was  a  building  the  brick  whereof  seemed  to 

be  of  gold  ;  but  whose  it  was,  that  he  knew  not. 
18 


274  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

"  There  were  also  upon  the  bank  of  the  foresaid 
river  certain  houses,  but  some  of  them  the  stinking 
vapour  which  rose  from  the  river  did  touch,  and 
some  other  it  touched  not  at  all.  Now  those  that 
desired  to  pass  over  the  said  bridge  were  subject 
to  this  manner  of  trial :  if  any  one  that  was  wicked 
attempted  to  go  over,  down  he  fell  into  that  dark 
and  stinking  river ;  but  those  that  were  just  and 
not  hindered  by  sin,  securely  and  easily  passed 
over  to  those  pleasant  and  delicate  places.  Then 
he  said  also  that  he  saw  Peter,  who  was  steward 
of  the  Pope's  family  and  had  died  some  four  years 
before,  thrust  into  a  most  filthy  place,  where  he 
was  bound  and  kept  down  with  a  great  weight 
of  iron  :  and  inquiring  why  he  was  so  used,  he 
received  that  answer,  which  all  we  that  knew  his 
life  can  affirm  to  be  most  true :  for  it  was  told 
him  that  he  suffered  that  pain,  because  when  him- 
self was  upon  any  occasion  to  punish  others,  that 
he  did  it  more  upon  cruelty  than  to  show  his 
obedience.  Then  also  he  saw  a  Priest  whom  he 
knew,  who  coming  to  the  foresaid  bridge  passed 
over  with  as  great  security,  as  he  lived  in  this 
world  sincerely. 

"  Likewise  on  the  same  bridge  he  saw  Stephen 
(mentioned  by  Gregory  in  a  previous  story),  who 
being  about  to  go  over,  his  foot  slipped,  and  half 
his  body  hanging  beside  the  bridge,  he  was  drawn 
by  the  legs  downwards  of  certain  terrible  men  that 
rose  out  of  the  river  ;  and  by  certain  other  white  and 
beautiful  persons,  he  was  pulled  upwards  by  the 


VISION  OF  HEAVEN  FROM  THE  DIALOGUES   275 

arms.  And  whilst  they  strove  thus,  he  that  beheld 
all  this  strange  sight  returned  to  life,  not  knowing 
in  conclusion  what  became  of  him."  The  Pope, 
commenting  on  this,  suggests  that  in  the  struggle 
for  Stephen's  body  it  was  the  sins  of  the  flesh 
that  pulled  him  down  while  his  works  of  alms 
plucked  him  up,  but  in  that  secret  examination 
of  the  supreme  judge,  which  of  them  had  the 
victory,  that  neither  we  know  nor  he  that  saw 
it.  Reverting  again,  he  says  that  "old  men  and 
young,  girls  and  boys,  did  carry  the  bricks  of 
gold  for  the  house  before  mentioned,  proving,"  he 
says,  "  that  those  to  whom  we  show  compassion  in 
this  world  will  labour  for  us  in  the  next."  He  adds 
that  a  certain  shoemaker  called  Deusdedit  having 
died,  another  had  a  vision  about  him  in  which 
he  saw  that  he  had  in  the  next  world  a  house  or 
building,  but  the  workmen  worked  at  it  only  on 
Saturday,  and  on  inquiry  it  was  found  that  when 
living,  all  the  money  he  earned  during  the  week 
which  was  not  spent  on  his  apparel  and  food,  he 
gave  in  alms  every  Saturday  at  St.  Peter's  Church, 
whence  it  was  that  his  building  went  forward  upon 
that  day.1 

1  Op.  cit.  iv.  34,  ed.  E.  G.  Gardner,  pp.  224,  etc.  Mr.  G.  F.  Hill  says 
in  a  note  to  this  story,  id.  p.  224  :  This  famous  and  important  chapter 
may  be  regarded  as  the  germ  of  the  later  mediaeval  visions  of  Hell, 
Purgatory,  and  Heaven.  The  bridge  is  "the  Bridge  of  Dread,"  said 
to  be  of  Oriental  origin,  which  occurs  in  so  many  of  the  later  visions  of 
the  other  world  (though  not  in  the  Divina  Commedia)  ;  this  is  its  first 
appearance  in  the  West,  the  Latin  version  of  The  Visio  Sancti  Fault, 
in  which  (though  not  in  the  original  Greek)  it  also  occurs,  being  later. 
The  sumptuous  house  of  gold  is  the  ultimate  source  of  the  empty 
throne  seen  preparing  (probably  for  St.  Bernard)  in  the  vision  of 


276  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

Let  us  now  turn  shortly  to  Gregory's  views  on 
the  Sacraments.  He  does  not  attempt  to  supply 
a  doctrine  of  the  conception  or  number  of  the 
Sacraments.  He  passes  the  subject  over  in 
silence.1  In  regard  to  the  Sacrament  of  Baptism, 
which  he  calls  Sacramentum  fidei,  he  contends 
that  it  completely  removes  the  guilt  of  original 
sin.  The  unbaptized  have  to  suffer  for  this 
original  stain  although  they  have  never  com- 
mitted actual  sin.  In  the  case  of  adults  it  not 
only  wipes  out  original  sin,  but  any  actual  sins 
committed  before  the  immersion.  This  seems 
very  inequitable,  since  children  who  die  before 
baptism  by  no  fault  of  their  own,  and  have  never 
committed  an  actual  sin,  are  devoted  to  the  fires 
of  hell ;  while  grown-up  people  who  have  com- 
mitted a  great  many  sins  before  they  are  baptized, 
have  a  clean  slate  made  for  them  by  the  thauma- 
turgical  qualities  of  some  holy  water  or  of  a  few 
sentences  pronounced  by  a  priest,  and  escape  all 
punishment. 

That  human  beings,  when  mere  babes  and  not 
yet  guilty  of  actual  sin,  should  be  sent  for  all  eternity 
to  hell  merely  because  of  the  carelessness  or 
wilfulness  or  ignorance  of  others,  which  no  action 
of  their  own  could  possibly  circumvent,  and  that  this 
tremendous  penalty  should  be  warded  off  by  the 

Tundal  (  Visio  Tungdali,  p.  54),  and  for  Henry  vn.  (the  Emperor  in 
the  Divina  Commedia,  Par.  xxx.  133-8).     The  episode  of  the  priest 
who  passes  safely  over  the  bridge  is  dramatically  expanded  in  the 
vision  of  Tundal  {op.  cit.  15,  27). 
1  Dudden,  ii.  414. 


SAINT  GREGORY  ON  THE  FALL  OF  MAN     277 

quite  accidental  fact  that  some  well-disposed  person 
was  at  hand  to  sprinkle  them  with  water  and 
pronounce  the  all-potent  formula,  has  been  deemed 
by  most  men  who  have  tried  to  define  the  limits 
of  Eternal  Justice  and  Righteousness,  as  incom- 
mensurable with  those  qualities  as  they  under- 
stand them,  and  as  the  reductio  ad  absurdum  of 
theological  metaphysics. 

In  regard  to  the  Eucharist,  which  Gregory  calls 
Sacramentum  or  Mysterium  Redemptoris,  his  teach- 
ing has  become  the  standard.  He  is  emphatic 
in  making  it  not  merely  a  sacrament,  but  also 
a  sacrifice.  He  does  not,  of  course,  attempt 
any  physical  explanation  of  the  mystery.  To 
him  the  presence,  although  undefined,  was  a  real 
presence.  It  was  long  after  his  time  when  the 
Schoolmen,  with  the  help  of  Aristotle,  introduced 
the  theory  of  Transubstantiation.  The  sacrifice,  he 
holds,  is  not  a  mere  figurative  and  commemorative 
one,  but  a  renewal  of  the  Passion,  and  it  frees  the 
living  from  temporal  suffering  and  from  inconven- 
iences like  imprisonment,  shipwreck,  illness,  etc.  ; 
while  it  can  also  release  souls  from  purgatory.1  He, 
on  the  other  hand,  makes  the  exercise  of  penance 
and  self-sacrifice  on  the  part  of  the  partaker  a  con- 
dition of  the  efficacy  of  the  Eucharist. 

Let    me   quote    a    famous    passage   from    the 
Dialogues  as  illustrating  his  point  of  view  : — 

"This  sacrifice,"  he  says,  "doth  especially  save 
our    souls   from    everlasting   damnation,    which    in 

1  Dudden,  iii.  416,  417. 


278  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

mystery  doth  renew  unto  us  the  death  of  the  Son 
of  God  :  who,  although  being  risen  from  death,  doth 
not  now  die  any  more,  nor  death  shall  any  further 
prevail  against  him :  yet  living  in  himself  im- 
mortally, and  without  all  corruption,  he  is  again 
sacrificed  for  us  in  this  mystery  of  the  holy  oblation  : 
for  there  his  body  is  received,  there  his  flesh  is 
distributed  for  the  salvation  of  the  people :  there 
his  blood  is  not  now  shed  betwixt  the  bands  of 
infidels,  but  forced  into  the  mouths  of  the  faithful. 
Wherefore  let  us  hereby  meditate  what  manner  of 
sacrifice  this  is,  ordained  for  us,  which  for  our 
absolution  doth  always  represent  the  passion  of  the 
only  Son  of  God  :  for  what  right  believing  Christian 
can  doubt,  that  in  the  very  hour  of  the  sacrifice,  at 
the  words  of  the  Priest,  the  heavens  be  opened,  and 
the  quires  of  angels  are  present  in  that  mystery  of 
Jesus  Christ ;  that  high  things  are  accompanied 
with  low,  and  earthly  joined  to  heavenly,  and  that 
one  thing  is  made  of  visible  and  invisible."1 

Gregory's  theory  about  man's  original  condition 
was  that  he  was  born  with  an  actual  immortality  of 
the  soul  and  a  potential  immortality  of  the  body, 
that  is  to  say,  that  unless  he  had  sinned  he  would 
not  have  had  to  face  death,  but  his  life  would 
have  been  eternal  and  unchangeable.  He  would 
have  known  nothing  of  the  necessities  of  infancy, 
youth,  manhood,  or  old  age,  of  heat  and  cold, 
hunger  and  thirst,  health  and  disease,  nor  could 
he  have  encountered  hope  and  fear,  passion  and 

1  Dialogues ;  lib.  iv.  58. 


SAINT  GREGORY  ON  ORIGINAL  SIN      279 

desire.  Like  the  angels,  he  had  the  privilege  of 
contemplating  the  Creator.  Further,  in  the  presence 
of  temptation,  he  had  the  power  of  choosing  between 
good  and  evil,  and  might,  if  he  had  willed  it,  have 
served  either  God  or  the  devil.  The  initial  problem  of 
all  theology,  why  man  was  given  this  choice  instead 
of  having  been  made  incapable  of  falling,  he  refused 
to  face.  "  When  the  mind,"  he  says,  "  silently  faces 
such  questions,  it  fears  lest  by  its  very  audacity  in 
questioning  it  should  break  out  into  pride,  and  it 
restrains  itself  with  humility  and  keeps  down  its 
thoughts."1 

By  Gregory  the  fall  of  man  was  accepted  in 
its  plain  natural  sense  as  it  occurs  in  Genesis,  and 
no  attempt  was  made  by  him  as  it  was  by  Augustine 
to  give  the  story  an  allegorical  and  mystical  sense. 
The  devil  tempted  Adam,  and  Adam  yielded 
voluntarily  to  him,  although  he  had  the  power  to 
resist  him  if  he  had  so  willed,  and  consequently,  as 
the  Pope  says,  "by  overthrowing  us  in  our  first 
parent  the  devil  rightfully  as  it  were  held  man  in 
bondage."  Like  Augustine,  Gregory  attributes 
Adam's  fall  chiefly  to  pride.  He  wished  to  become 
like  God,  not  by  righteousness,  but  by  power,  and 
secondly  by  sensuality  (the  lust  after  the  forbidden 
fruit). 

By  his  fall  he  forfeited  for  the  bodies  of  himself 
and  his  descendants  the  gift  of  immortality,  while 
his  soul  and  theirs  lost  the  purity  and  blessedness 
of  its  original  condition.  Secondly,  they  lost  their 

1  Moralta,  ix.  51. 


28o  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

stability  and  peace,  and  became  subject  to  the 
vicissitudes  of  life.  Thirdly,  they  lost  their  spiritual 
vision,  and  with  it  the  knowledge  of  God,  the  power 
to  contemplate  Him  and  the  capacity  for  apprehend- 
ing the  invisible  realities  of  the  spiritual  world  : 
they  retained  the  power,  however,  of  discriminat- 
ing between  right  and  wrong.  Lastly,  the  Fall 
weakened  the  human  will.  Augustine  had  taught 
that  it  only  retained  the  power  to  choose  what  is 
evil  (which  is  no  choice  at  all).  Gregory,  on  the 
other  hand,  held  that  the  will  was  not  lost,  but  so 
much  weakened  and  crippled  that  it  was  no  longer 
able  by  its  own  efforts  and  without  the  help  of 
grace  to  do  righteous  things.  He  used  one  of 
his  ever-ready  similes  to  illustrate  the  conclusion, 
and  compared  the  weakened  will  to  a  caged  lioness 
which,  once  perfectly  free,  and  having  rushed  into 
the  cage  by  its  own  effort,  could  not  now  release 
itself  by  its  own  efforts  but  only  by  the  hand  of  grace. 
A  will  thus  absolutely  dependent  on  another's  will 
as  its  inspirer,  can  hardly  be  called  free.  Secondly, 
the  Fall  initiated  the  great  struggle  between  the 
soul  and  the  body ;  the  latter  refused  to  obey  the 
former,  and  the  lusts  and  passions  were  let  loose. 
"  The  only  escape  was  the  thorny  path  of  weeping, 
of  obedience,  of  despising  the  visible  and  repressing 
the  appetites." 

Gregory  held  that  sin  was  not  a  substantial 
thing  which  can  exist  apart  from  goodness,  but  the 
defect  and  corruption  of  a  good  nature.  It  resulted 
from  the  temptation  of  the  devil,  and  the  consent 


COMPROMISE  WITH  AUGUSTINIANISM      281 

and  acquiescence  of  the  human  will.  The  devil 
would  be  powerless  without  the  co-operation  of  the 
human  will.  The  devil  tempts  man  with  some  sin 
which  man  finds  pleasant  and  amusing,  and  he 
thereupon  consents,  and  every  sin  begets  other 
sins.  He  justified  the  punishment  of  sins  com- 
mitted in  ignorance,  since  ignorance  of  the  Divine 
law  was  originally  the  result  of  sin.  He  classes 
sins  into  elaborate  categories. 

He  follows  Augustine  in  treating  original  sin 
as  the  innate  corruption  of  the  soul  which  makes 
all  sin  possible,  and  this  corruption  of  the  race  was 
due  to  the  initial  corruption  of  its  first  progenitor. 
"When  the  root  became  rotten  the  branches  also 
became  rotten."  Only  baptism,  he  held,  could  re- 
lease from  some  of  the  penalties  of  this  original 
sin.  Not  all  the  penalties,  however.  It  could  not 
restore  to  man  the  primeval  possession  of  an  im- 
mortal body.  In  the  case  of  the  unbaptized,  God 
visits  the  sins  of  the  fathers  on  the  children. 
Gregory  declares  that  we  all  are  born  "children  of 
Gehenna,"  "condemned  sinners,"  and  "infected  by 
sin  from  our  very  origin,"  and  children  who  have 
exercised  no  act  of  will  are  condemned  to  ever- 
lasting torment  for  their  birth  alone.  The  Saints 
of  the  Old  Testament  were  excluded,  he  held,  from 
paradise  after  death  and  kept  in  Hades  without 
torment  until  by  the  descent  of  Christ  they  were 
set  free  from  the  taint  and  admitted  to  the  presence 
of  God.  This  was,  of  course,  completely  incon- 
sistent with  Gregory's  rigid  insistence  elsewhere  that 


282 

without  baptism  a  man  cannot  see  God,  and  which 
he  applied  without  flinching  to  the  heathen  who 
had  died  unbaptized.  This  inheritance  of  sin  was 
propagated,  according  to  his  teaching,  by  the  carnal 
desire  and  its  product  physical  procreation,  and  this 
in  itself  prevented  any  one  born  of  woman  being 
holy.  He  does  not,  however,  any  more  than 
Augustine,  follow  this  argument  to  its  logical  con- 
clusion and  condemn  wedlock  as  sinful.  If  entered 
upon  for  producing  offspring  he  deems  it  lawful, 
but  he  treats  celibacy  as  the  higher  and  better  state. 
With  Augustine  he  deems  the  origin  of  the  soul 
an  unsolved  mystery,  but  favours  the  view  called 
Traducianism,  according  to  which  it  is  born  with 
the  body  and  equally  with  the  body  is  the  result  of 
procreation,  and  is  not  a  separate  creation  of  the 
Almighty  (Creationism). 

While  man,  according  to  Gregory,  is  born  prone 
to  sin  and  with  a  corrupt  nature,  so  that  even  if 
he  does  not  do  sinful  things  he  has  sinful  thoughts, 
he  deemed  these  to  be  the  result  of  unavoidable 
sin,  and  therefore  different  in  quality  to  the  sin 
resulting  from  consent.  It  was  the  wilful  com- 
mittal of  sin  and  the  neglect  to  atone  for  it  which 
he  alone  deemed  unforgivable. 

Man  being  thus  utterly  corrupt  through  both 
original  and  actual  sin,  his  malady  could  only  be 
cured  by  the  Incarnation  of  Christ,  who  by  His 
obedience  repaired  the  disobedience  of  Adam. 
According  to  Augustine,  the  grace  of  Christ  is 
the  only  remedy  for  the  fall  of  man,  and  nothing 


ST.  GREGORY'S  VIEWS  ON  PREDESTINATION  283 

that   he  can  do  to  save  himself  will  avail  him  in 
the   least.     To   this   view  of  his  master  Gregory 
did  not  entirely  assent.     According  to  him,  there 
is  some  merit  and  virtue  in  man's  consenting  and 
co-operating  will.     The  initiator,  however,   of  all 
good    he    considered    to    be    the    precedent    and 
enabling    grace    of    God.     Man    cannot    unaided 
make  the  feeblest  tentative    effort    after    holiness. 
He    can    only    help    to  make  the  success  perfect 
by    rightly    using    his    will.      This    conclusion    is 
not    very    logical,    it    was    a    compromise     with 
Augustine's   non-compromising   doctrine   of   grace 
which  men  have  found  so  hard  to  bear.     When 
analysed,  however,  it  lands  us  naturally  in  the  same 
dilemma.     Mr.  Dudden,  to  whom  I  have  been  under 
special    obligations    in    this   analysis  of   Gregory's 
theology,  says,  "  Gregory's  position  stood  midway 
between  pure  Augustinianism  and  semi-Pelagian- 
ism.     Gregory   softened   the    latter   down    in   the 
way  it  was  softened  down  in  the  famous  Canons 
of  Orange. 

"This  compromise,  transmitted  by  Gregory  to 
the  Middle  Ages,  found  general  acceptance,  but 
strict  Augustinianism  at  all  times  had  its  adherents 
and  obtained  a  new  and  important  development  at 
the  Reformation.  By  the  majority,  however,  the 
semi-Augustinian  compromise  of  Gregory  has  been 
preferred."  The  compromise  was  a  very  thin  one, 
for  Gregory  is  almost  as  savagely  persistent  as 
Luther  in  affirming  that  God  does  not  bestow 
grace  on  man  because  he  has  done  good  works, 


284  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

but  in  order  that  he  may  do  good  works,  and  he 
holds  that  grace  is  in  no  wise  earned  but  is  given 
freely,  and  the  sole  reason  for  the  gift  is  the  in- 
scrutable will  of  God.  When  once  given,  however, 
Divine  grace  works  within  man  merits  which  God 
rewards,  which  means,  in  fact,  that  God  rewards  His 
own  handiwork.  The  argument  is  clearly  a  circular 
one.  Gregory,  while  holding  this  view,  held  further 
that  this  initiating  grace  (known  as  Prevenient 
Grace)  which  "disposes  a  man  to  will  the  good  he 
willed  not"  is  followed  by  subsequent  grace  which 
enables  him  to  do  the  good  he  wills.  The  Pre- 
venient Grace,  he  held,  emancipates  the  will,  and 
then  co-operates  with  it,  while  Augustine  treats  it 
as  irresistibly  determined  by  the  dominating  grace. 
It  is  hard  to  see  how  Gregory's  "Will"  can  be 
defined  as  free.  Its  acts  are  in  every  case  de- 
scribed as  consequential  and  as  resulting  from  an 
initial  impulse  from  the  Divine  Will. 

Augustine's  theory  of  grace  was,  like  Calvin's, 
free  from  all  doubt  and  hesitation,  and  it  led  him 
straight  to  an  equally  rigid  and,  may  I  say,  equally 
revolting  theory  of  predestination.  According  to 
this  view  the  Maker  and  Father  of  mankind  elected 
from  among  His  human  creatures  a  certain  and  fixed 
number  to  whom  He  imparted  His  saving  grace, 
while  all  the  rest  He  left  in  their  own  wickedness, 
passing  them  over  so  that  they  earned  damnation. 
Both  the  elect  and  the  damned  had  their  fate 
therefore  fixed  long  before,  and  each  section  were 
working  out  in  their  lives  what  had  been  irrevocably 


ST.  GREGORY'S  VIEWS  ON  PREDESTINATION  285 

settled  long  before  in  the  secret  counsels  of  God. 
It  makes  no  difference  to  this  awful  conclusion 
whether  the  Almighty's  so-called  reprobation  was 
active,  or  merely  passive  and  indifferent.  His  re- 
sponsibility was  the  same.  Gregory  was  doubtless 
loath  to  adopt  such  a  terrible  conclusion  in  its  naked 
plainness,  but  he  has  no  solution  of  it  which  is  not 
contradictory  or  factitious.  At  one  time  he  argues 
that  God's  grace  was  freely  offered  to  all.  In  one 
place,  however,  he  interprets  the  definite  statement 
in  i  Tim.  ii.  4,  as  Augustine  does,  i.e.  as  meaning 
not  that  God  offers  it  to  all  men,  but  that  inasmuch 
as  it  is  offered  to  men  of  every  class  and  character^ 
therefore  it  is  given  to  all  men,  which  is  a  subterfuge.1 
At  another  time  he  seems  willing  to  adopt  the  older 
theory,  that  God  elects  those  whom  He  foresees  will 
persevere  in  faith  and  good  works.  Inasmuch  as  this 
very  perseverance,  however,  was  by  his  theory  due 
to  the  grace  of  God  and  is  not  possible  without  it, 
it  only  means  that  God  foresees  the  result  of  His 
own  future  grace,  which  is  a  mere  delusive  fallacy  of 
logic.  He  himself  in  another  place  offers  an  argu- 
ment against  this  theory  of  "  praedestinatio  ex  prae- 
visis  meritis  "  as  it  was  called,  namely,  the  difficulty, 
if  it  were  true,  of  equating  the  damnation  of  unbap- 
tized  infants  with  the  absolute  justice  of  God. 

"Two  little  ones,"  he  says,  "come  to  the  light. 
To  one  it  is  granted  to  return  to  redemption  by 
baptism ;  the  other  is  taken  away  before  it  is 
washed  by  the  regenerating  water.  And  the  son 

1  Moralia,  vi.  21. 


286  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

of  believing  parents  is  often  cut  off  without  faith, 
while  that  of  unbelievers  is  often  removed  by  the 
grant  of  the  Sacrament  of  faith.  Perhaps  some 
may  say  that  God  knew  that  the  former  would  act 
wickedly  even  after  baptism,  and  on  that  account 
did  not  bring  him  to  the  grace  of  baptism.  But  if 
this  is  so,  then  undoubtedly  we  have  an  instance  of 
sins  being  punished  even  before  they  are  committed, 
and  what  right-thinking  man  could  say  that  Al- 
mighty God,  who  releases  some  from  the  sins  they 
have  committed,  yet  condemns  in  others  these  very 
sins  even  when  not  committed."1  This  argument 
seems  very  hard  to  answer,  and  it  led  to  Gregory 
eventually  falling  back  on  Augustine's  more  logical,  if 
more  terrible  and  to  simple  minds  more  inexplicable, 
conclusion,  that  if  by  any  accident  or  fault  or  design 
on  the  part  of  its  parents  or  guardians,  a  child 
fails  to  have  a  few  drops  of  water  sprinkled  on  it 
while  a  certain  formula  is  uttered,  that  child  is  damned 
without  hope  to  all  eternity.  A  good  many  people 
would,  it  may  be  hoped,  even  in  the  sixth  century, 
prefer  to  silently  believe  that  a  stupendous  mysti- 
fication underlies  a  postulate  so  cruel  and  so  con- 
trary to  the  defined  attributes  of  God  as  the  loving 
Father  of  man  and  the  Dispenser  of  love  and  mercy. 
Justly,  we  do  not  distinguish  between  pushing  a 
man  into  the  water  and  letting  him  alone  when  there 
if  we  can  save  him.  His  blood  is  equally  on  our 
hands.  It  is  little  use  to  lay  down  a  monstrous 
proposition  like  this  and  then  to  say  that  the  matter 

1  Moralia,  xxvii.  7. 


ST.  GREGORY'S  VIEWS  ON  PREDESTINATION   287 

ought  not  to  be  discussed,  since  one  thing  is  alone 
certain,  namely,  that  nothing  can  be  unjust  which  is 
done  by  the  Just  One,  and  that  the  whole  matter  is 
a  mystery.  The  real  mystery  is  that  a  good  and 
able  man  should  deliberately  argue  that  the  Pattern 
of  all  goodness  was  thus  constituted,  and  should 
then  further  argue  that  God  shows  mercy  to  the 
elect  without  justice,  and  justice  to  the  reprobate 
without  mercy.  The  elect  as  well  as  the  reprobate 
must  experience  God's  justice,  if  He  be  just.1 

Thus  did  these  good  Fathers  spin  their  cobwebs 
and  exhaust  their  dialectical  ingenuity  in  trying  to 
solve  the  insoluble  and  to  define  the  indefinable. 
The  problem  of  free  will  and  determinism  is  as 
hopeless  in  theology  as  it  has  proved  itself  to  be  in 
philosophy,  and  to  get  round  the  interminable  anti- 
nomies in  which  logic  loses  itself  when  it  deals  with 
such  a  subject  is  like  trying  to  settle  whether  space 
has  or  has  not  limits.  I  ts  definite  settlement  seems  to 
be  beyond  the  reach  of  human  wisdom,  but  the  human 
heart  and  the  human  conscience  nevertheless  con- 

1  It  will  be  well  to  quote  a  paragraph  from  the  Dialogues  to  show 
Gregory's  method  in  these  very  abstract  fields.  Gregory  having  told 
his  companion  Peter  a  story,  the  latter  inferred  from  it  that  such  as 
be  of  great  merit  and  in  favour  with  God  can  sometimes  obtain  those 
things  which  be  not  predestinate  ;  whereupon  Gregory  replies  :  "  Such 
things  as  be  not  predestinate  by  God  cannot  by  any  means  be 
obtained  at  His  hands  ;  but  those  things  which  holy  men  do  by  their 
prayers  effect,  were  from  all  eternity  predestinate  to  be  obtained 
by  prayers.  For  very  predestination  itself  to  life  everlasting  is  so 
by  Almighty  God  disposed.  God's  elect  servants  do  through  their 
labour  come  to  it,  in  that  by  their  prayers  they  do  merit  to  receive 
that  which  Almighty  God  determines  before  all  worlds  to  bestow 
on  them."  He  then  quotes  Gen.  xxi.  12,  xxvii.  29,  xxii.  17,  and 
xxv.  21  (Dialogues,  i.  6). 


288  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

tinue  to  revolt  against  the  notion  that  the  best 
efforts  of  the  most  ideal  men  count  for  nothing  in 
the  scheme  by  which  rewards  and  punishments  are 
awarded  by  the  Fountain  of  all  justice ;  which  is 
Augustine's  intolerable  paradox.  The  mass  of  men 
will  continue  to  lean  to  the  opposite  view,  and  will 
still  cherish  the  motive  which  caused  Gregory  to 
separate  even  only  a  little  from  his  master  Augustine 
in  this  matter,  although  few  of  them  can  sanction  his 
arguments  or  adopt  his  actual  conclusion. 

Dr.  Bury  condenses  another  aspect  of  Gregory's 
theology  in  a  few  telling  sentences,  for  which  he 
acknowledges  obligations  to  Toepffel.  He  says: 
"In  doctrine  he  followed  the  respectable  authority 
of  the  founder  of  Latin  theology,  St.  Augustine. 
But  theology  was  the  Pope's  weak  point ;  here  the 
coarse  fibres  of  his  nature  are  apparent,  his  want  of 
philosophy,  his  want  of  taste.  Take,  for  instance, 
his  theory  of  the  Redemption.  Influenced  by  famili- 
arity with  the  ideas  of  the  Roman  law,  men  were 
prone  to  look  on  the  Redemption  as  a  sort  of  legal 
transaction  between  God  and  the  devil,  in  which  the 
devil  is  overreached.  Gregory,  true  to  the  piscatorial 
associations  of  the  first  Bishop  of  Rome,  presents 
this  idea  in  a  new,  original,  and  definite  form.  It  is 
easy  to  identify  Leviathan  in  Job  with  the  Evil  One ; 
and  once  this  identification  is  made,  it  is  obvious 
that  the  redemption  must  have  been  a  halieutic 
transaction,  in  which  God  is  evidently  the  fisher- 
man. On  His  hook  He  places  the  humanity  of  Jesus 
as  a  bait,  and  when  the  Devil  swallows  it  the  hook 


SUMMARY  OF  ST.  GREGORY'S  THEOLOGY    289 

pierces  his  jaws  .  .  .  this  grotesque  conception  is 
put  forward  earnestly,  not  as  a  mere  play  of  the 
imagination." 

I  have  here  collected  some  of  the  chief  matters 
in  which  Gregory's  influence  upon  theological 
thought  was  profound  and  definite.  Those  who 
wish  to  read  a  masterly  account  of  his  theology  as  a 
whole  I  must  remit  to  the  volumes  of  Mr.  Dudden. 
I  cannot  improve  upon  the  summary  with  which  he 
concludes  his  admirable  work. 

"  The  importance  of  the  teaching  of  the  Fourth 
Doctor  of  the  Latin  Church,"  he  says,  "lies  mainly 
in  its  popular  summarisation  of  the  doctrine  of 
Augustine,  and  in  its  detailed  exposition  of  various 
religious  conceptions  which  were  current  in  the 
Western  Church,  but  had  not  hitherto  been  defined 
with  precision.  On  the  other  hand,  Gregory  pro- 
vided what  may  be  termed  a  popular  version  of 
Augustine.  That  is  to  say,  he  restated  his  views  in 
simple,  unphilosophic  form,  and  at  the  same  time 
toned  some  of  them  down  in  the  interests  of  natural 
piety.  Thus,  for  example,  the  doctrine  of  God  is 
reproduced  in  simple  language,  and  the  doctrine  of 
Grace  is  modified  in  the  practical  interest  by  the 
vigorous  assertion  of  the  freedom  of  the  will.  So 
popularised,  Augustinianism  was  erected  into  a 
standard  by  Gregory,  and  thus  passed  over  to  the 
Middle  Ages.  On  the  other  hand,  Gregory  was 
the  first  to  give  clear  expression  to  many  current 
religious  conceptions  which  had  been  hitherto  im- 

1  Op.  cit.  ii.  157. 
19 


290  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

perfectly  defined,  as,  for  instance,  the  conception  of 
Purgatory  or  of  the  Eucharistic  sacrifice.  In  his 
exposition  of  such  ideas  he  made  a  distinct  advance 
upon  the  older  theology,  and  influenced  profoundly 
the  dogmatic  development  of  the  future. 

"  The  combination  of  Augustinianism  with  the 
conceptions  of,  the  popular  religion,  thus  effected  by 
Gregory,  is  the  ground  of  the  system  of  mediaeval 
Catholicism.  The  Schoolmen  worked  on  Gregory's 
material.  They  analysed  his  theology,  restated  his 
propositions  in  scientific  form,  and  endeavoured  to 
reconcile  them  to  the  understanding  by  elaborate 
dialectical  proofs.  Doctrine,  as  was  natural,  de- 
veloped in  the  process,  and  the  schemes  of 
Scholasticism  present  many  points  of  contrast  with 
the  teaching  of  the  Morals  and  the  Homilies.  Yet 
it  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  it  is  on  Gregory's 
work  that  these  later  systems  in  the  main  are  based. 
It  is  the  ideas  and  doctrines  emphasised  by  him, 
that  afterwards  became  of  first-rate  importance  in 
the  Church.  .  .  .  Gregory's  theology  is  important  in 
the  history  of  dogma :  yet  we  do  not  find  in  it  new 
ideas  or  the  settlement  of  difficult  questions.  But 
he  does  sum  up  the  teaching  of  the  older  Fathers 
and  brings  it  into  union  with  the  opinion  of  his  time. 
He  does  consolidate  and  strengthen  the  Catholicism 
he  found,  preparing  the  matter  for  future  elabora- 
tion. ...  He  gives  to  theology  a  tone  and  an 
emphasis  which  cannot  be  disregarded.  And  from 
his  time  to  that  of  Anselm  no  teacher  of  equal 
eminence  arose  in  the  Church.  For  a  period  of 


SAINT  GREGORY'S  FALLIBILITY         291 

nearly   four   centuries   the   last  word  on   theology 
rested  with  Gregory  the  Great."  l 

It  is  important,  in  view  of  modern  theories  about 
papal  infallibility,  to  remember  some  facts  about 
Gregory's  dogmatic  position.  We  have  seen  that, 
while  agreeing  in  the  main  with  his  master,  another 
Doctor  of  the  Church,  namely,  Augustine,  he  very 
considerably  qualified  the  latter's  views  about  such 
critical  matters  as  the  responsibility  of  man  for  his 
acts  and  the  freedom  of  his  will.  He  revolted 
apparently  from  the  terrible  fatalism  which  really 
underlies  Augustine's  views  on  the  subject,  but  he 
did  so  by  forms  of  logic  which  have  been  generally 
deemed  unsound  and  are  obviously  elusive  and 
inconsequent.  He  accepted  Augustine's  premises 
in  their  fulness,  and  tried  to  soften  them  in  their 
application  by  methods  which  are  obviously  de- 
lusive, if  not  disingenuous.  The  fact  is,  Gregory 
was  a  great  moralist  but  a  poor  philosopher,  and  in 
trying  to  make  Augustine's  theories  more  palatable 
he  involved  himself  in  self-contradictions  which  his 
master,  if  then  living,  would  have  pierced  through 
and  through  with  his  very  effective  lance.  The  real 
truth  is,  that  it  is  Augustine's  premises  which  are  at 
fault  and  not  his  conclusions,  which  is  equally  true  of 
Augustine's  greatest  pupil,  Calvin,  who  in  much  later 
times  shrank  from  no  application  of  his  mechanical 
logic.  They  both  pressed  the  case  to  a  revolting 
conclusion,  which  compelled  them  to  treat  Divine 
Justice,  Mercy,  and  Rectitude  as  the  very  converse 

1  Op,  tit.  ii,  442,  443. 


292  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

of  the  abstractions  we  connote  by  the  same  terms 
when  we  make  them  the  bases  of  Human  Morality. 

Who,  then,  is  to  judge  between  Augustine  and 
Gregory,  and  between  both  of  them  and  the  de- 
mands of  the  human  conscience  in  such  an  issue  ? 
To  those  who  have  accepted  papal  infallibility  it  is 
apparently  a  necessity  that  they  should  follow  the 
Pope,  who  was  a  Church  Doctor,  rather  than  his 
master,  the  African  Bishop,  who  was  also  a  Doctor 
of  the  Church.  Yet  it  would  be  difficult  to  find  in 
the  history  of  the  dogmatic  teaching  of  the  Roman 
Church  on  the  subject  of  Gregory's  theory  of 
qualified  free  will  or  of  grace,  evidence  that  it  has 
accepted  either  his  arguments  or  his  conclusions  on 
these  subjects. 

This  is  not  all ;  there  are  other  matters  in  which 
Gregory's  position,  when  measured  by  the  accepted 
Church  teaching,  savours  of  heresy.  Thus,  as 
Mr.  Dudden  says,  Gregory,  while  cherishing  the 
Chalcedonian  formulas,  cherished  also  views  on  the 
Incarnation  distinctly  Doketic  in  tendency.1  In 
respect  to  the  ignorance  of  Christ  as  man,  Gregory 
asserts  the  Doketic  views  without  the  slightest  am- 
biguity. His  statements  regarding  Christ's  mental 
anguish  and  His  temptation  are  less  explicit,  but 
their  general  tenor  seems  to  be  to  the  same  effect.2 
He  would  not  tolerate  any  human  limitation  to 
Christ's  human  omniscience,  a  view  which  is  not 
now  received  by  the  Roman  Church.  As  we  shall 
see,  in  one  of  his  answers  to  the  questions  of  the 

1  Op.  cit.  ii.  293.  2  Ib.  329-331. 


SAINT  GREGORY'S  FALLIBILITY  293 

later  Augustine,  Gregory,  in  regard  to  the  degree  of 
consanguinity  within  which  marriage  is  permissible, 
created  much  trouble,  and  was  repudiated  by  the 
Church,  while  some  forged  letters  under  the  name  of 
Felix  of  Messina  were  produced  in  order  to  do  away 
with  the  effect  of  the  Pope's  unwary  pronouncement. 

The  prayers  which  the  Pope  offered  for  the 
delivery  of  the  pagan  Emperor  Hadrian's  soul 
from  hell,  as  attested  by  some  very  early  records  of 
his  miracles,  and  in  many  works  of  art,  were  gener- 
ally deemed  quite  unorthodox  by  subsequent  writers 
of  authority.  His  biographer,  John,  had  to  try  and 
excuse  them  ;  so  did  Thomas  Aquinas. 

It  is  plain,  therefore,  that  either  Gregory  was 
mistaken  in  his  published  opinions  as  Pope  on  very 
important  dogmatic  questions,  and  was  not  therefore 
infallible,  or  else  that  the  Roman  Church  has  erred 
in  following  other  teachers. 


CHAPTER  IX 

IN  the  last  chapter  we  saw  to  what  critical  and  almost 
inconceivable  lengths  Gregory  pursued  his  own 
premises  in  interpreting  the  ways  of  Providence ; 
there  still  remains  to  be  considered  a  notable  example 
of  his  character,  i.e.  his  extraordinary  intolerance  at 
times.  No  word  so  well  describes  what  I  mean. 
With  him  no  thought  was  more  firmly  fixed  than 
that  salvation  was  to  be  found  in  the  Church  alone. 
Heretics  and  schismatics  "being  severed  from  the 
Church  were  also  separated  from  Christ,  and  were 
outside  the  sphere  of  operation  of  the  Holy  Spirit." 
Hence  they  could  not  hope  for  salvation,  which  was 
to  be  found  only  within  the  Church.  He  said  "  the 
Holy  Universal  Church  proclaims  that  God  cannot 
truly  be  worshipped  save  within  herself,"  and  as- 
serted that  all  they  who  were  without  her  pale  would 
never  be  saved.1  No  sacrifices  were  accepted  by 
God,2  no  prayers  were  heard,3  no  forgiveness  of  sin 
was  obtained,  save  through  the  merits  and  interces- 
sion of  the  one  Catholic  Church.4  "  For  it  is  the 
Church  alone  through  which  God  willingly  accepts 
a  sacrifice,  the  Church  alone  which  intercedes  with 

1  Moralia^  xiv.  5.  *  Ib.  Pref.  17. 

8  Ib.  xxxv.  12.  *  Ib.  xviii.  42. 

394 


ST.  GREGORY'S  THEORY  OF  THE  CHURCH      295 

confidence  for  those  that  are  in  error.  The  true 
sacrifice  of  the  Redeemer  was  offered  only  in  the 
one  Catholic  Church.  It  is  in  the  Church  alone 
that  a  good  work  is  faithfully  carried  on.  It  is  the 
Church  alone  which  guards  those  who  are  within  it 
by  the  strong  bond  of  charity,  and  in  which  we 
truly  contemplate  heavenly  mysteries,  for  truth 
shines  forth  from  the  Catholic  Church  alone."1 
41  Good  works,  innocence  and  obedience,  perfection 
and  eternal  life,  are  not  to  be  had  by  any  who 
are  outside  the  Church."1  "Even  the  merit  of 
martyrdom  is  denied  them.  For  though  heretics 
and  schismatics  suffer  in  the  name  of  Christ,  they 
are  not  purified  by  their  suffering.  Their  sins  are 
punished  but  not  purged  away,  and  all  their  torment 
is  void  of  merit  or  saving  efficacy."3 

"  Hence,  though  a  man  displays  heroic  deeds, 
faith  of  a  sort,  and  even  miracles,  he  is  none  the 
less  without  hope  of  salvation,  if  he  be  not  joined 
to  the  one  Church,  which  gives  the  saving  stamp  to 
all."  The  Church,  Gregory  held,  was  not  only  Holy 
and  Catholic,  but  Apostolic,  "of  Apostolic  founda- 
tion, and  connected  with  the  Apostles  by  an  un- 
interrupted episcopal  succession," 4  and  the  only 
authority  for  doctrine.  "  Though  her  dogmas  have 
been  gradually  elaborated,  they  are  all  based  on 
the  teaching  of  the  Apostles." 5  The  custodian  and 

1  Moralia,  xxxv.  13. 

2  Ib.  xxxv.  33,  and  Greg.  Exp.  Sup.  Cant.  Canticorum,  vi.  9. 

3  Moralia,  xviii.  41,  42.     "  Martyr  em  non  facit  poena  sed  causa" 
E.  and  H.  ii.  49. 

4  Moralia,  iv.  61  and  62.  *  Ib.  xxvii.  14  and  15. 


296  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

interpreter  of  Holy  Scripture,  she  alone  can 
explain  the  obscurities  of  the  Old  Testament l  and 
draw  out  the  full  meaning  of  the  brief  testimonies 
of  the  New,2  for  she  alone  is  gifted  with  wisdom 3 
from  on  high.  Unlike  the  heretics,  she  makes  no 
pretence  to  hidden  or  cryptic  knowledge.  She 
requires  that  men  should  receive  her  decisions  on 
things  that  cannot  be  comprehended  by  reason, 
with  faith.  "  Many  of  her  doctrines  she  cannot 
herself  understand  ; 4  others  she  deliberately  refuses 
to  elucidate,  that  men  may  not  be  puffed  up  with 
intellectual  pride."  "  She  asks  her  sons  to  accept 
her  dogmas  with  unquestioning  faith,  every  act 
of  faith  being  thus  an  act  of  obedience."5  Mr. 
Dudden  has  in  these  pregnant  sentences,6  each 
supported  by  a  quotation,  admirably  condensed  for 
us  the  haughty  and  imperious  demands  made  by 
Gregory  on  behalf  of  his  Church.  No  wonder  he 
should  have  had  nothing  but  scorn  for  heretics  and 

o 

schismatics,  and  no  wonder  that  his  teaching  on  this 
subject  should  form  the  bone  and  marrow  of  modern 
Encyclicals  and  Syllabuses,  and  that  all  advances 
in  our  own  day  for  peace  or  brotherhood  or  union, 
on  any  terms  but  unqualified  surrender,  from  those 
outside  her  fold  should  have  been  met  by  contemptu- 
ous scorn.  It  is  plain  that  there  is  no  method  of 
equating  differences  of  this  kind  except  absolute 
domination  on  one  side  and  absolute  submission  on 
the  other.  The  true  father  of  the  intolerance  and 

1  E.  and  H.  ix.  26.  2  Moralia,  xxvii.  14,  15. 

8  Ib.  xviii.  1 8.  4  Ib.  xiv.  32. 

6  Ib.  xx.  2.  6  Dudden,  ii.  405-414. 


SAINT  GREGORY  ON  CHURCH  AND  STATE     297 

bigotry  and  exclusiveness  of  the  mediaeval  Church 
and  its  Roman  successor  in  our  day  was  Gregory. 
He  was  eminently  fair-minded  and  judicial,  save 
where  schism  and  heresy  were  in  question,  when  he 
shaped  the  prejudices  of  succeeding  ages  in  their 
full  rigour — feeling,  no  doubt,  that  in  the  face  of 
enemies  pressing  the  Church  on  all  sides,  he  who 
rent  the  garment  was  the  worst  of  traitors. 

He  was  a  warm  champion  of  the  union  of 
Church  and  State.  "The  latter,"  he  taught,  "should 
work  for  the  furtherance  of  Divine  law  and  worship. 
Earthly  rulers  were  entrusted  with  the  duty  of 
preserving  ti\e  pax  fidei.  Theirs  it  was  to  maintain 
law  and  order  in  the  Church,  to  guard  its  secular 
interests,  and  to  compel  its  enemies,  whether  pagans, 
schismatics,  or  heretics,  to  submit  to  its  authority." l 
He  summed  up  his  view  on  the  respective  provinces 
of  the  civil  and  religious  jurisdiction  in  his  rule, 
"  Q^tod  vero  fecit  fecerit,  si  canonicum  est,  sequimur : 
si  vero  canonicum  non  est,  in  quantum  sine  peccato 
nostro,  portamus"  z 

Towards  pagans  and  Jews  he  acted  very  much 
like  other  Christians  in  authority  in  his  time.  Pagans, 
like  heretics,  were  treated  much  more  hardly  than 
Jews.  Pagan  tenants,  Gregory  held,  might  be  per- 
secuted and  have  intolerable  exactions  imposed  on 
them  to  compel  their  conversion.3  Idolaters  and 
diviners  were  to  be  reclaimed  :  if  freemen  by  im- 
prisonment, and  if  slaves  by  stripes  and  torture. 

1  Dudden,  ii.  413.  2  E.  and  H.  xi.  29. 

3  Ib.  iv.  26. 


298  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

He  is  found  writing  to  the  Bishop  of  Cagliari, 
pressing  upon  him  to  cause  the  idolatrous  peasants 
in  Sardinia  who  were  serfs  of  the  Church  to  be 
baptized  by  force,  and  to  fine  those  who  were 
refractory ;  while  he  similarly  pressed  upon  the 
Emperor  to  execute  the  severe  decrees  issued  by 
his  predecessors  against  the  Donatists. 

Jews  were  treated  by  him  with  a  good  deal 
more  tenderness  than  pagans  or  heretics.  We  shall 
see  presently  that  he  was  very  stringent  against 
their  dealing  in  Christian  slaves,  otherwise  his 
regulations  about  them  were  generally  humane. 
Jews,  however,  were  not  allowed  to  proselytise  or 
build  new  synagogues.  On  the  other  hand,  he 
insisted  that  they  should  not  be  coerced  into  receiv- 
ing baptism  or  molested  in  the  synagogues  they 
already  had.  When  tenants  of  the  Holy  See,  they 
might  be  bribed,  however,  to  change  their  faith  by 
the  offer  of  lower  rents.1 

This  form  of  bribery  was  done  quite  undis- 
guisedly.  Thus  Gregory,  writing  to  Cyprian  the 
Rector  in  Sicily  in  regard  to  the  Jews  living  on 
the  lands  of  the  Church,  tells  him  to  advertise 
the  fact  widely  that  whoever  among  them  was 
converted  should  have  the  burdens  of  his  holding 
lightened,  and  this  was  to  be  done  by  a  regular 
system.  One  who  paid  a  solidus  in  rent  was  to  have 
a  third  remitted.  If  three  or  four,  he  was  to  have 
one  solidus  deducted.  If  still  more,  proportionately. 
The  Pope  argues  that  such  transactions  would  not 

1  E.  and  H.  ii.  38,  v.  7. 


SAINT  GREGORY  AND  THE  JEWS        299 

be  unprofitable,  since  by  these  payments  the  Jews 
would  be  brought  to  the  grace  of  Christ ;  and  even 
if  they  themselves  came  with  little  faith,  he  artfully 
argues  that  those  born  of  them  would  be  baptized 
with  more  faith,  so  that  in  any  case  they  or  their 
children  would  be  won.1  In  another  letter  to  the 
sub-Deacon  Anthemius  he  urges  that  Jewish  con- 
verts should  be  helped  with  money  when  in  want, 
and  he  specifies  a  certain  Justa  and  her  sons  as 
deserving  recipients.2 

He  also  deprecates  harsh  treatment  of  Jews. 
Thus  he  writes  to  Bacauda  and  Agnellus,  two 
bishops  in  Sicily,  saying  that  the  Jews  at  Terracina 
had  petitioned  him  in  regard  to  their  synagogue  at 
that  place.  It  seems  this  synagogue  was  so  near 
the  church  that  the  sound  of  the  psalmody  from 
the  former  reached  the  latter.  His  agent,  Peter, 
was  to  inquire  into  the  case,  and  if  he  found  that 
this  proximity  was  really  a  nuisance  he  was  to 
secure  the  Jews  a  fresh  site.  In  another  letter, 
to  Paschasius,  he  forbade  the  Jews  to  be  op- 
pressed or  vexed  unreasonably,  since  they  were 
permitted  in  accordance  with  justice  to  live  under 
the  protection  of  the  Roman  laws,  and  they  ought 
to  be  allowed  to  keep  their  observances  as  they 
had  learnt  them  without  hindrance.3  Again,  he 
writes  to  Fantinus  the  Defensor  that  the  Jews  of 
Panormus  (i.e.  Palermo)  had  complained  that  their 
synagogues,  with  the  guest-chambers  that  were 

1  E.  and  H.  iv.  36  ;  Barmby,  v.  8. 

2  E.  and  H.  v.  46  ;  Barmby,  iv.  31. 

8  E.  and  H.  ii.  6,  xiii.  15  ;  Barmby,  i.  10,  xiii.  12. 


300  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

under  them  or  attached  to  their  walls,  and  the 
gardens  adjoining,  together  with  their  books  and 
ornaments,  had  been  wrongfully  appropriated  by  the 
Church  officials.  He  ordered  that  due  amends 
should  be  made.1 

In  a  second  letter  to  Fantinus,  Gregory  tells 
him  he  had  heard  from  the  Lady  Abbess  of  the 
Monastery  of  St.  Stephen  at  Agrigentum  that 
many  Jews  wished  to  be  converted,  but  it  was 
necessary  that  some  one  should  go  there  from  the 
Pope.  Gregory  therefore  bids  him  hasten  thither. 
If  he  found  them  anxious  to  be  baptized,  as  the 
Paschal  solemnity  was  some  time  off  and  they  might 
in  the  meantime  change  their  minds,  he  was  to  con- 
sult about  it  with  the  bishop  there.  Penitence  and 
abstinence  (poenitentia  et  abstinentia)  having  been 
prescribed  to  them  for  forty  days,  he  might  baptize 
them  under  the  protection  of  the  mercy  of  God  on 
a  Lord's  Day,  or  on  any  very  noted  festival  that 
might  occur ;  and  if  he  found  that  some  of  them 
were  too  poor  to  buy  christening  vestments,  he 
might  charge  their  price  in  his  accounts.  If  they, 
however,  wished  to  put  off  the  ceremony  till  Easter, 
he  was  to  arrange  with  the  bishop  so  that  they 
might  for  the  present  become  catechumens,  while 
he  meanwhile  visited  them  frequently  and  made 
exhortations  to  them.  He  ends  by  asking  the 
Defensor  to  send  full  details  of  what  should  occur.2 

In  a  letter  to  Libertinus,  the  praetor  of  Sicily, 

1  E.  and  H.  ix.  38  ;  Barmby,  ix.  55. 

2  E.  and  H.  viii.  23  ;  Barmby,  viii.  23. 


SAINT  GREGORY'S  MANIFOLD  DUTIES     301 

Gregory  complains  of  "a  very  wicked  Jew"  called 
Nasas,  who  had  erected  an  altar  in  the  name  of  the 
blessed  Elias,  and  had  enticed  many  Christians  to 
worship  there.  He  was  to  inquire  and  to  punish 
him.1  We  elsewhere  find  the  Pope  rebuking  the 
Roman  people  for  the  Judaising  practice  of  teach- 
ing that  Saturday  rather  than  Sunday  was  to  be 
kept  as  the  Christian  Sabbath,  which  was  apparently 
affected  by  certain  of  them.2 

Gregory's  life  had  been  a  long  struggle  against 
sickness,  which  greatly  emaciated  his  once  full 
body  ;  he  suffered,  like  most  of  his  contemporaries, 
from  gout,  from  indigestion,  and  from  malarial 
fever,  which  were  no  doubt  aggravated  by  his 
austerities,  and  he  was  troubled  with  fainting  fits. 
He  was,  nevertheless,  indefatigable.  He  "never 
rested"  is  the  graphic  phrase  of  his  biographer, 
Paul.3  Mr.  Dudden  condenses  for  us  the  kind  of 
engagements  which  occupied  his  days :  "  Now  he 
was  called  upon  to  give  audience  to  an  envoy 
from  Constantinople,  now  to  preside  over  the  trial 
of  an  accused  bishop,  now  to  dictate  some  minute 
directions  to  the  governor  of  one  of  the  papal 
patrimonies.  Sometimes  schismatics  or  heretics 
came  to  Rome  to  consult  the  orthodox  Pope  and  hear 
his  arguments.  Monks  came  to  complain  of  the 
oppression  of  their  diocesans,  bishops  to  obtain  advice 
in  managing  their  dioceses,  soldiers  and  civil  officials, 
ambassadors  from  the  Lombards  or  the  Franks, 

1  E.  and  H.  iii.  37  ;  Barmby,  iii.  38. 

2  E.  and  H.  xiii.  3.  3  Vita,  15. 


302  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

messengers  from  the  Exarch,  priests,  abbots,  Jews, 
slaves,  women,  crowded  his  antechambers  and  clam- 
oured for  his  attentions." l  To  each  and  all  he  was 
accessible,  and  ever  ready  to  apply  his  ready  wit 
and  his  sound  sense  and  judgment  to  remedy  the 
pressing  evil. 

The  combination  of  a  fragile  body  and  strenuous 
life,  with  a  continuous  residence  in  the  malarious 
district  of  the  Lateran  (for  he  never  seems  to  have 
left  Rome  after  he  became  Pope),  had  a  natural 
consequence.  Gregory's  career  was  a  short  one,  and 
he  died  on  the  I2th  of  March  604,  after  a  reign  of 
thirteen  years,  six  months,  and  ten  days  as  Pope.2 
He  was  buried,  as  was  customary,  on  the  day 
of  his  death,  in  the  "  porticus  "  or  chapel  of  the 
basilica  of  St.  Peter,  in  front  of  the  sacristy  (ante 
secretarium)?  His  body  was  placed,  as  was  usual 
with  great  personages,  in  an  Egyptian  porphyry 
basin  (Conca  SEgyptiaca)?  Two  hundred  years 
later  it  was  removed  by  his  successor  and  name- 
sake, Gregory  the  Fourth,  to  an  oratory  near  the 
new  sacristy  within  the  church,  and  his  tomb  was 
covered  with  silver  panels  and  its  back  wall  with 
golden  mosaics.5 

Subsequent  translations  took  place  in  the 
fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries,  and  the  remains 
having  been  removed  to  a  cypress  coffin,  now 

1  Op.  cit,  i.  244,  quoting  the  Horn,  in  Ez.  i.  1 1,  paragraphs  6  and  26. 

2  See  the  discussion  of  the  date  in  Plummer's  Bede,  vol.  ii.  p.  36. 

3  Lib.  Pont.  Greg.  I. 

4  Lanciani,  Pagan  and  Christian  Rome,  223. 
8  Lib.  Pont.  Greg.  iv. 


SAINT  GREGORY'S  EPITAPH  303 

rest  beneath  the  altar  in  the  Chapel  of  Clement 
the  Eighth,  to  which  they  were  transferred  on 
8th  January  1606.  His  epitaph,  cited  by  Bede, 
has  been  attributed  to  Peter  Oldradus,  Archbishop 
of  Milan  and  secretary  to  Pope  Hadrian  the  First, 
but  in  an  Italian  note  to  Gregorovius  we  read : 
"Dell*  iscrizione  incisa  sulla  tomba  si  conoscera  il 
tenore  per  copia  fatte  fino  nel  secolo  vii:  non  se, 
cognosce  lautore ;  ma  non  fu  certo  Farcivescovo 
Oldradio."  It  consists  of  sixteen  hexameters,  and 
six  small  fragments  of  it  have  been  recently  re- 
covered, and  are  preserved  in  the  subterranean 
church  of  St.  Peter.1  The  last  six  lines  of  the 
epitaph  may  be  quoted.  After  belauding  the  Pope 
in  various  ways,  it  continues  :— 

Ad  Christum  Anglos  convertit  pietate  magistra, 

Adquirens  fidei  agmina  gente  nova. 

Hie  labor,  hoc  studium,  haec  tibi  cura,  hoc  pastor  agebas, 

Ut  Domino  offerres  plurima  lucra  gregis, 

Hisque  Dei  Consul  factus  laetare  triumphis ; 

Nam  mercedem  operum  jam  sine  fide  tenes. 

The  phrase  "Dei  Consul"  (Consul  of  God) 
should  be  noted  here. 

The  two  concluding  lines  are  not  given  by  Bede. 
They  run : — 

Hie  requiescit  Gregorius  Papa  qui  sedit  annos 

xiii  menses  vi  dies  x — Depositus  iiii  idus — Martias.2 

It  is  a  notable  instance  of  what  I  previously 
mentioned,  that  men  were  often  dubbed  saints 
without  having  had  any  official  appointment,  that 
so  famous  a  man  as  Gregory  should  have  acquired 

1  Gregorovius^  i.  p.  419,  note  42.        2  E.  and  H.  vol.  ii.  App.  V. 


304  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

the  style  simply  on  account  of  his  widely  recognised 
reputation  for  sanctity.  Thus  in  the  life  of  him  by 
the  Whitby  Monk  we  read:  " Iste  [i.e.  Gregory] 
enim  sanctus  utique  per  omnem  terram  tarn,  sanctus 
habetur,  ut  semper  ab  omnibus  ubique  Sanctus  Gre- 
gorius  nominatur.  Unde  letaniis  .  .  .  Sanctum 
Gregorium  nobis  in  amminiculum  vocam^(•s,  cum 
sanctis  scilicet  apostolis  et  martyribus,  inter  quos  eum 
in  coelis  Christo  credimits  conjunctum" * 

The  evidence  that  the  Pope's  remains  still  re- 
main in  St.  Peter's  at  Rome  is  very  satisfactory,  but 
it  is  not  the  only  story  about  them. 

According  to  a  very  improbable  saga,  reported 
by  Odilo  the  Monk  in  his  tract  on  the  translation 
of  the  remains  of  SS.  Sebastianus  and  Gregory, 
Roidinus,  the  Prior  of  St.  Medard,  bribed  the 
sacristans  of  St.  Peter's,  opened  the  tomb  of  St. 
Gregory,  and  carried  the  body  off  to  Soissons, 
where  it  was  claimed  to  have  been,  by  many  writers. 
St.  Thomas  of  Canterbury  made  a  pilgrimage 
thither  to  invoke  the  help  of  "the  Apostle  of  the 
Church  of  England  who  lyeth  in  the  same  town 
entombed,"  and  it  was  said  to  have  been  destroyed 
by  the  Huguenots.  This  story  is  inconsistent  with 
the  better  witness  of  the  Pope's  own  biographers.2 

Although  the  body  as  a  whole  is  generally  ad- 
mitted to  have  remained  in  Rome,  there  are  many 
claims  in  many  places  to  the  possession  of  disin- 
tegrated fragments  of  it.  Three  several  heads — 
one  at  Sens,  another  at  Prague,  a  third  at  Lisbon, 

1  Op.  cit.  ed.  Gasquet,  p.  45.      .  2  Dudden,  ii.  274. 


DISTRIBUTION  OF  SAINT  GREGORY'S  RELICS   305 

and  portions  of  a  fourth  at  Cologne — all  attest  the 
extravagant  credulity  of  relic-hunters.  The  virtue 
of  the  larger  bones  was  distributed  by  having  them 
further  broken  and  made  to  do  service  elsewhere ; 
thus  the  upper  part  of  the  skull  and  another  bone 
are  said  to  be  in  the  treasury  of  the  Cathedral  at  Sens. 
A  portion  of  this  latter  skull  was  begged  by  Pope 
Urban  the  Eighth  in  1628,  and  presented  by  him  to 
the  Roman  oratory  of  St.  Maria  in  Vallicella,  where 
it  still  remains.  When  the  Cathedral  of  Avignon 
was  rededicated  in  the  last  century,  a  piece  of  this  last 
bone  was  detached  and  presented  to  the  church  there, 
at  the  instance  of  Pope  Gregory  the  Sixteenth.  This 
is  not  all.  Mr.  Dudden  has  collected  a  number  of 
notices  of  other  relics  of  the  marvellous  Pope,  which 
I  will  in  part  appropriate.  He  says  :  "  In  the  great 
sack  of  Rome  in  1527,  a  crystal  vase  containing  an 
arm  of  the  Saint  is  said  to  have  been  stolen.  One 
of  his  arms  is  claimed  for  St.  Gregory's  Monastery 
at  Rome,  and  another  for  Cambray.  One  of  his 
hands  is  said  to  be  in  the  Cathedral  of  Cesena,  and 
a  finger  bone  at  St.  Pantaleone  in  Cologne.  The 
Carthusians  in  the  same  city  possess  a  tooth  and  a 
large  and  small  bone,  and  the  Jesuits  in  Lisbon  had 
other  relics.  In  Spain  there  was  formerly  a  picture 
of  the  Virgin,  which,  it  was  said,  had  been  presented 
by  St.  Gregory  to  his  friend  Leander,  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Seville.  A  piece  of  his  dalmatic  is  said 
to  be  at  St.  Stephen's  in  Bologna.  An  ivory 
crozier,  said  to  have  been  the  great  Pope's,  was 
presented  to  St.  Gregory's  Church  by  Gregory 


306  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

the  Sixteenth."1  In  a  letter  of  Pope  Vitalian  it  is 
said  that  he  sent  some  relics  of  Gregory  to  Oswy, 
King  of  Northumbria.2  At  Monza  there  is  a  very 
early  Antiphonary  said  to  have  been  presented  by 
Pope  Gregory  to  Queen  Theodelinda.3 

The  artists  of  the  Middle  Ages  usually  asso- 
ciated the  apostles,  saints,  and  martyrs  with  some 
symbolic  object  by  which  they  can  be  recognised. 
Gregory  is  generally  represented  in  his  papal  dress 
and  tiara,  accompanied  by  a  dove,  a  book,  or  an 
angel  playing  a  musical  instrument. 

A  chapel  was  dedicated  to  St.  Gregory  at 
St.  Augustine's,  Canterbury,  where  Mass  was 
recited  every  Sunday  at  the  altar  of  the  Saint.4 
Another  chapel  {portions}  was  dedicated  to  him  in 
the  Church  of  St.  Peter  at  York.5  There  was  also 
a  church  dedicated  to  him  in  London.6  An  altar 
dedicated  to  him  was  erected  in  very  early  times  at 
Whitby,  as  is  stated  in  his  life  by  the  Whitby  Monk. 

The  deeds  and  the  alleged  miraclesof  the  Pope.or 
connected  with  his  name,  afforded  abundant  inspira- 
tion to  the  artists,  both  painters  and  sculptors,  of  the 
Middle  Ages  and  of  more  modern  times.  It  will  be 
well  to  refer  to  some  of  the  most  noted.  Among 
these  the  greatest  favourite  was  the  Pope's  rescue 
of  the  soul  of  the  Emperor  Trajan  from  torment. 
The  story  as  reported  by  the  Whitby  Monk  relates 
that  one  day,  when  traversing  the  Forum  of  Trajan, 
the  Pope  recalled  a  work  of  such  charity  (tarn  elemo- 

1  Op.  cit.  ii.  275,  276.  2  Bede,  iii.  chap,  xxxix. 

5  Marriott,  Vest.  Christ.  237.          *  Bede,  ii.  3. 

*  Ib.  ii.  20.  6  Ib.  ed.  Plummer,  vol.  i.  p.  cxxv. 


ST.  GREGORY  &  THE  RELEASE  OF  TRAJAN    307 

sinarium)  done  by  the  Emperor  who  built  it,  that 
he  deemed  him  to  have  been  more  of  a  Christian 
than  a  pagan.  As  the  Emperor  was  setting  out 
on  an  expedition  with  his  army,  he  was  importuned 
by  a  widow,  who  said,  "  My  Lord  Trajan,  here  are 
men  who  killed  my  son  and  refuse  to  give  me 
anything."  "Wait  till  I  return,"  he  said,  "and  I 
will  make  them  give  you  redress."  To  which  she 
said,  "  But,  my  lord,  if  you  never  return  no  one 
will  do  justice  to  me."  He  thereupon  summoned 
the  wrong-doers,  and  made  them  pay  her  a  recom- 
pense. Gregory,  remarking  on  this,  said  that  it 
was  the  very  case  contemplated  in  Isaiah  i.  17 
and  1 8,  "Judge  the  fatherless  and  plead  for  the 
widow.  Come  now,  let  us  reason  together,  saith 
the  Lord."  Since  he  did  not  know  what  to  do  for 
the  refreshment  of  such  a  man's  soul ;  through  the 
influence  of  Christ  working  within  him,  he  went 
to  St.  Peter  and  poured  forth  his  accustomed  flood 
of  tears  until  it  was  divinely  communicated  to  him 
that  his  petition  for  his  release  had  been  heard.  But 
it  was  also  conveyed  to  him  that  he  should  never 
presume  again  to  do  such  thing  for  any  other  pagan 
(unde per  eum  quern  in  se  habuit  Christum  loquentem, 
ad  refrigerium  anime  ejus  quid  implendo  nesciebat, 
ingrediens  ad  Sanctum  Petrum  solita  direxit  laerim- 

o 

arum  fluenta,  usque  dum  promeruit  sibi  divinitus 
revelatum  fuisse  exauditum,  atque  ut  nunquam  de 
altero  illud  presumpsisset  pagano}.1  This  miracle 

1  Op.  cit.  p.  39.  In  more  than  one  of  the  tales  quoted  by  my 
friend  Mr.  Herbert  in  his  most  industrious  book,  the  third  volume 
of  the  British  Museum  Catalogue  of  Romances,  pp.  400,  401, 


308  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

was  afterwards  felt  to  be  embarrassing,  and  was 
repudiated  on  the  ground  that  Trajan  had  died 
a  pagan ;  and  it  was  therefore  deemed  shock- 
ing that  a  Pope  should  have  appealed  in  tears  to 
St.  Peter  to  release  him  from  the  torments  of  hell. 
Gregory's  biographer,  John  the  Deacon,  suggests 
that  the  story  was  an  English  one,  and  would 
make  the  English  responsible  for  it — "  Lcgitur  enim 
penes  easdem  Anglorum  ecclesias"  The  anonymous 
Whitby  Monk,  from  whom  I  have  quoted  it,  on  the 
other  hand,  clearly  derives  the  story  from  Italy. 
He  begins  it  with  the  words,  "  Quidam  quoque  de 
nostris  dicunt  narratum  a  Roman-is,"  and  himself 
cites  it  as  extraordinary,  since  no  unbaptized  person 
can  see  God.  As  he  says:  ''Nemo  enim  sine 
baptismo  Deum  videbit  unquam" : 

Secondly,  we  have  the  miracle  of  the  bleeding 
cloth,  above  described,  which  was  originally  told 
of  Leo  the  Great.2 

Thirdly,  that  of  a  noble  Roman  lady,  who  used 
to  present  bread  of  her  own  making  for  consecra- 
tion in  the  Mass,  and  was  seen  to  smile  when  told 
this  bread  was  the  Lord's  body.  The  Pope,  to 
strengthen  her  faith,  prayed  that  a  miracle  might 
be  vouchsafed,  whereupon,  when  the  Host  on  the 
altar  was  uncovered,  it  was  said  to  have  been  clearly 
changed  into  material  flesh  stained  with  blood. 

and  630  and  638,  it  is  said  that  Gregory  was  offered  a  choice  of 
penalties  for  praying  for  Trajan's  soul.    Mr.  Herbert  has  also  directed 
me  to  an  elaborate  monograph  on  the  legend  by  M.  Gaston  Paris,  in 
the  Bibl.  de  Ptcole  des  Hautes  £tudes,  fasc.  35  (1878),  pp.  261-298. 
1  Vide  op.  cit.  chap.  xxix.  a  Vide  ante,  p.  226. 


SAINT  GREGORY'S  MIRACLES  309 

The  Pope  having  prayed  again,  the  flesh  was  again 
converted  into  bread. 

Fourthly,  the  cure  of  the  Lombard  King,  who 
had  promised  Gregory  that  if  the  latter  ever  became 
Pope  he  would  not  molest  the  city  of  Rome.  Gregory 
bade  him  return  to  the  food  of  his  childhood — i.e.  a 
milk  diet — by  which  he  was  cured.  We  should  hardly 
call  this  a  miracle  now.  It  clearly  refers  to  the  time 
before  he  became  Pope. 

A  fifth  miracle  reported  of  the  Pope  was  of  a 
more  grim  character.  He  had  excommunicated  a 
rich  and  powerful  man  who  had  divorced  his  wife. 
The  latter  thereupon  bribed  two  magi,  or  necro- 
mancers, to  do  the  Pope  an  injury.  By  their 
diabolic  arts  they  caused  a  demon  to  enter  the 
horse  Gregory  was  riding,  so  that  it  became  very 
excited,  and  put  him  in  great  danger.  He  suc- 
ceeded, however,  in  discomfiting  the  magi,  who 
confessed  and  were  converted. 

Lastly,  the  miracle  reported  in  reference  to  his 
successor  as  Pope,  namely,  Sabinianus,  who  joined 
in,  or  perhaps  incited,  a  popular  outcry  against  him 
after  his  death,  and  attributed  a  famine  which  oc- 
curred, to  his  extravagance.  Sabinian  did  not  mend 
matters  by  withdrawing  the  free  doles  which  his 
predecessor  had  distributed,  from  the  monasteries, 
guest-houses,  deaconries,  and  hospitals.  In  answer 
to  the  appeals  of  the  poor,  he  replied,  "If 
Gregory  for  the  glory  of  his  own  praise  entertained 
all  the  people,  I  cannot  afford  to  do  the  same." 
Thereupon,  we  are  told,  Gregory  appeared  to  him 


310  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

three  times  and  gently  admonished  him,  and  as  he 
persisted  he  paid  him  another  visit,  when  he  violently 
abused  and  even  struck  the  offending  Pope  on  the 
head,  from  the  effects  of  which  blow  he  shortly 
afterwards  died.1  In  the  Whitby  Life  we  have  an 
epitomised  version  of  the  story,  in  which  Gregory 
is  said  to  have  kicked  his  successor  on  the  head 
with  his  foot.2 

John  the  Deacon  tells  the  story  rather  differently. 
He  says  that  the  people  were  so  enraged  against 
Gregory's  memory  that  they  determined  to  burn  his 
books.  Thereupon  his  secretary,  Peter,  told  them 
a  tale  in  order  to  dissuade  them.  This  story  is 
better  put  by  Gregory's  earlier  biographer,  Paul, 
who  says :  "  Peter  the  Deacon,  Gregory's  close 
friend  and  prote'ge',  declared  that  when  the  Pope 
was  composing  his  commentary  on  the  prophecies 
of  Ezekiel,  a  veil  was  drawn  between  them. 
As  the  Pope  kept  silence  for  a  long  time,  Peter, 
who  was  acting  as  his  secretary,  made  a  hole 
with  his  pen  in  the  veil,  and,  looking  through 
it,  he  saw  a  dove  whiter  than  snow  sitting  on 
Gregory's  head  and  holding  its  beak  for  a  long 
time  to  his  lips,  as  if  conveying  a  message.  When 
the  dove  withdrew  its  bill  the  Pope  began  to  speak 
again,  and  Peter  went  on  transcribing.  This  hap- 
pened more  than  once,  and  on  one  occasion  he  saw 
Gregory  with  hands  and  eyes  raised  to  heaven  as  if 
in  prayer,  receiving  as  before  the  dove's  beak  be- 
tween his  lips."  This  naive  and  beautiful  story,  no 

1  Paul.  Diac.,  chap.  xxix.  a  Op.  cit.  chap,  xxviii. 


SAINT  GREGORY'S  MIRACLES  311 

doubt,  was  the  origin  of  the  dove  being  treated  in 
art  as  the  special  symbol  of  the  Pope.  It  occurs  in 
the  alleged  interpolated  portion  of  Paul  the  Deacon's 
Life  of  Gregory,  and  is  doubtless  either  an  enlarge- 
ment of  that  told  in  the  Whitby  Life  or  was  taken 
from  the  original  form  of  that  Life. 

Peter  having  told  the  crowd  this  story,  further 
confirmed  its  truth  by  a  very  solemn  oath,  and, 
entering  the  ambo,  or  pulpit,  with  the  Gospels  in 
his  hand,  he  prayed  God  to  take  his  life  if  the  story 
was  not  true.  After  repeating  the  statement  he 
suddenly  died.  This,  we  are  told,  was  accepted  as 
an  attestation  of  the  truth  of  the  legend,  which  does 
not  seem  quite  consequential. 

The  six  miracles  here  related  are  especially 
noteworthy  for  us,  since  they  occur  for  the  first  time 
in  the  biography  of  the  Whitby  Monk,  from  which 
they  were  perhaps  derived  by  Paul  the  Deacon,  while 
John,  Gregory's  third  biographer,  expressly  says  that 
four  of  them — i.e.  those  of  the  bleeding  "host,"  of  the 
bleeding  cloth,  of  the  release  of  Trajan,  and  of  the 
image — were  stories  specially  current  in  the  English 
Church.  He  adds  several  tales  of  visions  in  which, 
after  his  death,  the  Pope  is  made  to  appear  to 
several  monks  of  St.  Andrew's  Monastery,  includ- 
ing, on  one  occasion,  himself.1 

Gregory's  unpopularity  with  the  Roman  people 
was  only  transient.  Their  memories  speedily  re- 
verted to  the  many  obligations  they  were  under  to 
him,  and  his  biographer,  John,  tells  us  how  they  kept 

1  Op.  cit.  iv.  100. 


312  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

his  feast,  and  on  the  vigil  went  in  crowds  to  his 
tomb  and  affectionately  kissed  his  unembroidered 
pallium  of  white  linen,  his  girdle  of  a  thumb's 
breadth,  and  his  silver  phylacta  hung  by  a  piece  of 
red  cloth,  which  were  all  in  existence  when  he  wrote.1 
They  also  visited  their  wrath  on  Sabinian,  whose 
body  had  to  be  furtively  conveyed  from  the 
Lateran  to  its  burial  by  skirting  the  outside  of 
the  city,  so  as  to  escape  the  fury  of  the  mob. 

If  we  have  found  much  to  distress  us  in  the  theo- 
logical and  dogmatic  views  of  Gregory,  which  became 
the  great  armoury  of  Scholasticism  and  the  inspira- 
tion of  the  methods  and  theories  of  the  Inquisition, 
we  cannot  say  enough  in  praise  of  his  moral  and 
ethical  teaching.  Directly  we  get  him  on  this 
ground,  we  feel  what  grandeur  there  is  in  the  man. 
Here  he  towers  above  the  whole  crowd  of  theo- 
logians, and  takes  us  to  a  higher  atmosphere  where 
the  air  is  pure  and  fresh,  and  untainted  by  sordid 
thoughts  and  views,  and  makes  us  feel  how  mean 
all  vice  is,  how  contemptible  is  all  pretence  and 
hypocrisy,  and  how  necessary  faith,  love,  and  good 
works  are  if  we  are  to  attain  righteousness.  He 
never  misses  an  occasion  in  his  homilies,  and  in  his 
great  work  on  Job,  of  urging  that  theology  without 
morals  is  mere  dust  and  ashes,  as  are  asceticism,  long 
prayers,  or  fasting,  etc.  etc.,  without  real  humility  and 
contrition.  Let  me  again  borrow  from  Mr.  Dudden 
some  references  which  my  readers  would  do  well 
to  look  up  and  ponder  over,  e.g.  his  analyses  of 

1  Op.  cit.  iv.  80. 


ST.  GREGORY'S  HIGH  MORAL  STANDARDS     313 

the  virtues  of  fortitude,1  humility,2  truthfulness,3 
obedience,4  the  uses  of  adversity,5  the  relation  of  the 
active  to  the  contemplative  life,6  his  definition  of 
different  kinds  of  temptation,7  of  the  ascetic  mean  ; 8 
the  causes  of  sin,9  and  his  account  of  the  conception, 
birth,  and  growth  of  good  in  man.10  "  These  sub- 
jects," says  Mr.  Dudden,  "are  handled  by  Gregory 
with  an  easy  mastery,  which  proves  him  to  have  been 
a  moral  theologian  of  high  rank.  No  Early  Father 
better  understood  the  human  soul  or  analysed  more 
clearly  its  miseries  and  necessities,  or  indicated  more 
pointedly  the  remedies  that  should  be  applied."11 
Another  sentence  from  Dr.  Barmby  will  emphasise 
all  this.  He  says  :  "  As  a  preacher  of  essential 
Christian  morality  he  was  ever  sound  and  true, 
nor  has  any  one  more  insisted  on  spiritual  com- 
munion of  the  individual  soul  with  God,  or  more 
strongly  maintained  the  principle  of  justice,  mercy, 
and  truth  being  of  the  essence  of  religion."12 

A  good  deal  has  been  made  of  Gregory's  occa- 
sional outbreaks  of  temper,  his  sarcastic  humours,  and 
his  sometimes  unforgiving  temper  towards  certain 
breaches  of  monastic  and  clerical  discipline.  Those 
of  us  who  share  his  gout  will  be  tender  to  his 

1  Moralia,  v.  33  ;  vii.  24.  2  Ib.  xxvii.  75-79  and  xvi.  39,  40. 

*  Ib.  xviii.  5.  4  Ib.  xxxv.  28-33. 

5  Ib.  Pref.  12  ;  xiv.  40 ;  xx.  61  ;  xxiv.  45  ;  xxxi.  107. 

6  Ib.  vi.   56-62  ;  Horn,  in  Ez.,  \.  3,  par.  9  ;   i.  5,  par.  12  ;  ii.   2, 
par.  8  ;  ii.  6,  par.  5. 

7  Moralia,  xii.  22. 

8  Ib.  xx.  78  ;  xxx.  62,  63.  9  Ib.  xxv.  28. 

10  Ib.  xxx.  40,  41.  n  Op.  cit.  ii.  441  and  442,  note. 

12  Eps.  of  Gregory,  Prolegomena,  xxx. 


314  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

irascibility,  and  those  who  have  tiresome  friends  will 
also  be  tender  to  his  sarcasms  against  dullards  and 
hapless  people  whose  sins  are  not  less  irritating 
because  they  are  sins  of  omission,  while  the  times 
needed  a  master  who  could  be  unbending  and  un- 
forgiving when  his  great   aims  were  jeopardised. 
Few  men  in  history,  with  such  a  gigantic  responsi- 
bility and  load  of  work  as  he  had,  have  got  through 
the  task  so  well  and  wisely  as  he  did,  and  with  such 
continual  outpouring  of  gentle,  kindly  thought  for  the 
poor,  the  helpless,  the  unprotected,  and  the  weak. 
Few  again,  if  any,  have  through  their  lives  shown 
such  persistent  solicitude  for  their  own  ideals  of  what 
was  noble  and  lofty,  and  have  lived  up  to  the  very 
high  standards  he  proposed  for  others  in  his  works. 
My  friend  Dr.  Hodgkin  denies  his  claim  to  be  a 
saint.     If  these  do  not  constitute  claims,  I  know  of 
none.     The  statesman,  the  lawyer,  the  administrator, 
the  bishop,  the   theologian,  and   the  high-minded 
Christian  gentleman,  can  all  learn  ample  lessons  from 
his  correspondence  and  example.     As  to  his  narrow- 
ness and  credulity,  and  his  dogmatic  outlook  on 
this  world  and  the  next,  it  was  not  his  fault  that 
he  was  born  in  the  moral  and  mental  atmosphere 
of  the  sixth  century,  out  of  which  he  stepped  so  far 
in  many  other  ways ;   and  that  in  what  he  fully 
believed  to  be  the  approaching  end  of  "this  wicked 
world  "  he  should  have  tried  to  organise  as  much  of 
it  as  he  could,  according  to  the  ideals  of  a  monk, 
and  perhaps  at  times  dreamt  of  the  possibility  of 
such    political   and    moral    ideals    as    have    since 


CULTURE  IN  SAINT  GREGORY'S  TIME     315 

fructified    in    the    theocratic    monkish    polity    of 
Tibet. 

While  all  men  are  agreed  in  acknowledging  the 
high  character,  devotion  to  duty,  practical  ability, 
administrative  skill,  high  mental  gifts,  and  real  great- 
ness of  Gregory,  it  would  not  be  judicial  to  ignore 
another  side  of  his  career,  in  which,  although  he  was 
the  creature  of  his  time  (a  very  bad  time),  he  put  back 
the  finger  on  the  clock  of  human  progress  very 
materially.  The  period  in  which  he  lived  has  been 
graphically  called  "  the  twilight  of  the  Dark  Ages," 
and  the  succeeding  four  centuries  present  us  with  only 
occasional  glimpses  of  dim  colour  "amidst  the  en- 
circling gloom."  After  Gregory's  death  the  shadows 
fell  rapidly,  and  every  form  of  human  culture  sank 
into  increasing  decadence.  Literature,  art  of  all 
kinds,  everything  that  enlightens  and  elevates  the 
human  mind,  or  is  an  antidote  to  materialism  or 
sybaritism,  fell  into  deeper  and  deeper  lethargy, 
and  the  harvests  gathered  by  the  bright  thought, 
and  the  cultured  taste,  and  the  great  ideals  of  the 
Greeks  and  Romans  were  buried  deep  in  oblivion. 
Men's  thoughts  turned  elsewhere  than  to  these  things. 
They  had  become  utterly  weary  of  the  fruits  and 
flowers  which  this  world  had  produced  and  was  pro- 
ducing, and  were  engrossed  with  hopes  and  fears  in 
regard  to  another  and,  as  they  thought,  a  better 
world,  for  which  this  was  a  mere  apprenticeship. 
The  world  they  pictured  beyond  the  stars  was  a 
strange  one,  which  did  not  glow  with  sensual  colours, 
but  was  draped  in  grey  and  austere  shadows.  Nor  is 


316  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

it  wonderful  that  the  pendulum  should  have  swung 
very  far  when  it  began  to  swing,  and  that  asceticism 
and  abnegation  of  anything  that  could  please  or  bring 
joy  to  life  was  deemed  to  be  holy.  That  self-torture 
(mental  and  bodily),  and  the  persecution  of  every 
human  passion  and  taste,  should  have  been  con- 
sidered the  highest  of  ideals.  That  literature  and 
art  should  alike  have  been  (not  merely  neglected) 
but  denounced  in  favour  of  the  endless  metaphysical 
word-splitting  of  half-instructed  theologians  trying 
to  paint  pictures  of  another  life  (entirely  beyond 
human  ken),  and  to  fasten  down  the  attributes  and 
the  moral  standards  of  the  Almighty  to  definitions 
of  their  own  concocting.  Lastly,  that  the  life  of  the 
cloister,  with  its  continual  and  ceaseless  prayers  and 
bodily  suffering,  and  with  no  mental  food  save  that 
which  was  supplied  by  the  Scriptures  or  the  lives  of 
saints,  should  have  been  treated  as  the  ideal  exist- 
ence of  man,  and  monks  and  nuns  and  anchorites  as 
the  only  people  who  had  solved  life's  riddle  well. 

Of  all  this  Gregory  was  an  uncompromising 
champion,  and  a  devoted  follower  of  the  layman, 
Justinian,  who  had  finally  closed  the  Academy  at 
Athens,  and  thus  dispersed  the  last  school  of  philo- 
sophy and  all  it  then  meant,  and  initiated  the  Dark 
Ages.  We  find  nowhere  in  his  writings  any  signs 
of  sympathy  with  culture,  in  the  modern  sense  of 
the  term.  Greek,  as  we  have  seen,  he  did  not 
know,  but  the  Latins  had  great  poets  and  great 
historians  as  well  as  the  Greeks.  He  deemed  their 
writings  pagan  and  wicked. 


LACK  OF  THEOLOGICAL  BOOKS  AT  ROME     317 

It  was  not  the  study  of  classical  books  only  which 
was  then  apparently  entirely  discouraged  in  Rome. 
The  poverty  of  the  Capital  of  Christendom  in  re- 
ligious works  is  equally  marked.  In  a  letter  to  the 
Patriarchs  of  Alexandria  and  Antioch,  Gregory  says 
the  Roman  Church  did  not  possess  the  Canons  of 
the  Council  of  Constantinople  nor  its  Acts,  nor  had  it 
accepted  them  except  such  as  defined  the  objections 
against  the  Macedonians.  He  therefore  knew 
nothing  about  the  Eudoxians  who,  he  understood, 
had  been  condemned  by  that  Synod.  He  could 
find  no  mention  of  them,  he  says,  either  in 
Philaster  or  in  the  blessed  Augustine,  and  only  in 
the  history  of  Sozomen,  which  was  not  accepted 
by  the  Apostolic  See  because  of  its  laudation 
of  Theodore  of  Mopsuestia.1  In  another  letter  to 
the  Patriarch  of  Alexandria,  who  had  asked  the 
Pope  to  send  him  "the  Acts"  of  all  the  martyrs 
which  had  been  collected  in  the  time  of  Con- 
stantine  by  Eusebius  of  Csesarea,  he  confesses  that 
he  had  never  heard  of  their  acts  before  he  received 
the  letter  of  Eulogius.  Besides  what  Eusebius 
said  in  his  books  (i.e.  his  histories)  about  the  Holy 
Martyrs,  he  was  not  aware  of  any  in  the  archives 
of  the  Church  or  in  the  libraries  of  Rome,  unless 
it  were  some  few  things  collected  in  a  single 
volume.  They  had  the  names  of  nearly  all  the 
martyrs,  with  their  passions  attached,  contained  in 
one  volume,  and  celebrated  the  solemnities  of  Mass 
on  certain  days  in  commemoration  of  them  ;  but  in 
1  E.  and  H.  vii.  31  ;  Barmby,  vii.  34. 


318  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

that  volume  it  was  not  indicated  who  each  was,  and 
how  he  suffered,  but  only  his  name,  and  the  place  and 
day  of  his  passion.1  Again,  from  a  letter  written  to 
Anastasius,  the  Patriarch  of  Antioch,  it  would  seem 
that  even  the  Acts  of  some  of  the  other  Councils 
were  not  then  available  in  Rome,  and  notably  those 
of  the  first  Council  of  Ephesus,  which  the  Patriarch 
had  said  he  acknowledged.  Gregory  said  he 
only  had  access  to  an  heretical  document  which 
had  been  sent  to  him  from  the  Royal  City  (i.e. 
Constantinople),  and  which  affirmed  that  certain 
Catholic  views  as  well  as  heretical  ones  had  been 
censured  there,  and  he  bids  his  correspondent, 
in  consequence,  to  apply  to  the  Churches  of 
Alexandria  and  Antioch  for  the  Acts  of  this  Synod. 
Gregory  seems  to  say  that  its  only  Acts  he  had 
by  him  approved  views  of  Celestinus  and  Pelagius, 
whereas  it  was  known  that  those  two  theologians 
were  condemned  at  it :  "  Ilia  enim  Sy nodus,  quae 
sub  primae  Ephesinae  imagine  facta  est,  quaedam 
in  se  oblata  capitula  asserit  adprobata,  quae  sunt 
Caelestini  atque  Pelagii  praedicamenta.  Et  cum 
Caelestinus  atque  Pelagius  in  ea  synodo  sint  damnata, 
quomodo  poterant  ilia  capitula  recipi,  quorum  damna- 
bantur  auctores"*  A  more  surprising  confession  is 
made  in  a  third  letter,  written  to  ^Etherius,  Bishop 
of  Lyons  ;  where  he  says  that,  as  to  the  acts  or  writ- 
ings of  "the  blessed  Irenaeus,"  they  had  long  been 
searching  for  them,  but  had  not  succeeded  in  finding 

1  E.  and  H.  viii.  28  ;  Barmby,  viii.  29. 
3  E.  and  ff.\\.  135  ;  Barmby,  ix.  49. 


SAINT  GREGORY'S  OBSCURANTISM        319 

them.1     But  perhaps  the  most  wonderful  proof  of 
his  limitations  in  this  regard  is  the  fact  that  in  his 
voluminous  works  we  find  no  mention  whatever  of 
the  two  men  who,  next  to  himself,  illuminated  letters 
in  the  sixth  century  the   most — namely,   Boethius 
and  Cassiodorus.     Gregory  was  as   little  devoted 
to  art  of  any  pretensions  (except  perhaps  music)  as 
he  was  to  literature.     In  these  matters  his  outlook 
was  that  of  the  early  Quakers  and  Puritans,  and 
he  was  imitated  by  the  crowds  of  men  who  admired 
him,  and  who  in  other  days  would  have  thronged 
to    the    Alexandrian,    or    Athenian,    or    Rhodian 
schools,  and  would  have   filled   their   homes  with 
things  of  beauty   and   taste.     He   constantly   im- 
pressed upon  his  correspondents  the  dangers  and 
the   wickedness   of    reading    secular   writers   who 
made  paganism  attractive,  and  whose  philosophy 
might  sap  their  faith.     For  an  example,  it  will  suffice 
to  recall  his  well-known  letter  to  Desiderius,  Arch- 
bishop of  Vienne.2      Again,  as  Mr.  Dudden,  who 
tries   to  palliate  the  fact,  allows  :   "  It  is  very  re- 
markable that  one  whose  letters  deal  with  so  many 
various    topics  should   not  say  a  word   about  any 
schools  of  grammar,  rhetoric,  dialectics,  and  juris- 
prudence, which   were   formerly    endowed    by  the 
State,   nor  does  he  anywhere  mention  a  professor 
or  man  of  letters.     What  is  still  more  remarkable, 
and  in  this  he  is  in  marked  contrast  with  his  con- 
temporaries, Gregory  of  Tours  and  Fortunatus,  is 

1  E.  and  H.  xi.  40  ;  Barmby,  xi.  56. 

a  Vide  ante,  177,  178  ;  E.  and  H.  i.  34  ;  Barmby,  xi.  54. 


320  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

that  he  shows  hardly  a  trace  of  any  knowledge  of 
the  ancient  authors,  nor  do  we  hear  of  any  great 
libraries  then  existing  at  Rome ;  the  great  classical 
libraries  seem  to  have  been  closed  or  destroyed." 

It  seems  to  me  that  the  tradition  preserved  by 
John  of  Salisbury  (himself  a  most  remarkable 
scholar  for  his  period,  the  twelfth  century),  which 
Mr.  Dudden  seems  to  doubt,  has  considerable  prob- 
ability. He  says  that  Gregory  not  only  banished 
the  study  of  astrology  (mathesin),  but  committed 
to  the  flames  the  contents  of  the  libraries  in 
the  Palatine  and  Capitol  in  order  to  ensure  the 
exclusive  study  of  the  Scriptures ;  while  another 
tradition  says  he  had  every  copy  of  Cicero  and 
Livy  he  could  lay  his  hands  upon  burnt !  It  appears 
to  me  that  this  is  exactly  the  kind  of  thing  Gregory 
would  have  done  with  the  full  approval  of  his  friends 
and  intimates.  A  fortiori  is  it  probable  that  he 
would  have  destroyed  the  statues  of  gods  and 
goddesses,  especially  the  naked  ones,  which  still  re- 
mained in  the  Roman  streets  and  perhaps  also  some 
of  the  pagan  temples.  This  would  be  absolutely 
consonant  with  the  whole  spirit  of  the  times  in  its 
attitude  to  the  old  religion,  whose  adherents  were 
by  no  means  all  extinct.  It  is  true  that  the  fig  tree 
and  the  orange  tree  of  culture  had  ceased  to  pro- 
duce any  very  tempting  fruit.  The  old  faiths  out  of 
which  they  grew  were  dead  and  discarded,  the  gods 
deposed,  and  what  remained  was  a  great  mass  of 
magic  and  necromancy.  It  is  true  that  the  practical 
teaching  of  ethics  was  also  very  sick.  Patriotism  and 


LOW  MORAL  STANDARDS,  SIXTH  CENTURY    321 

civic  virtue  were  rare  amidst  a  crowd  of  sybaritic 
nobles  and  gentry  and  a  grossly  immoral  court, 
where  selfishness  prevailed  everywhere  among  the 
rich,  and  sullen  hatred  and  despair  among  the  human 
kine,  who  worked  from  hour  to  hour  and  week  to 
week  to  keep  this  tinsel  life  going.  It  is  true  that 
the  principal  literature  which  men  then  cultivated 
and  read  was  foul  and  nauseous,  and  the  great 
masterpieces  of  antiquity  were  neglected  for  the 
ribaldry  of  Petronius  and  Juvenal.  The  coarse 
material  lives  destroyed  all  taste  for  ideal  beauty  of 
any  kind,  and  the  patrons  of  such  art  as  remained 
were  dominated  by  the  rudest  standards.  The 
philosophers  who  had  replaced  the  priests  as 
teachers  of  men,  had  largely  become  triflers,  teach- 
ing not  wisdom,  but  the  arts  of  simulation  and  of 
casuistry,  in  which  truth  was  not  the  aim  but  the 
victim,  and  the  plaything  of  the  nimblest  wit. 
What  men  cared  for  most  when  they  went  to  "the 
play,"  was  not  to  hear  Sophocles  or  Euripides, 
Terence  or  Plautus,  but  to  watch  the  disgusting 
cruelties  of  the  circus,  and  the  slaughter  of  human 
beings  who  had  been  specially  trained  to  kill  each 
other.  Life  had  become  a  form  of  mad  epicureanism 
in  which  duty  and  sacrifice  were  despised,  and  vast 
crowds  of  slaves  were  employed  in  furnishing  the 
rich  with  luxury  and  debauchery. 

1 1  was  amidst  these  surroundings  that  Christianity 
spent  its  early  centuries,  when  persecution  and  ill- 
usage  did  so  much  to  strengthen  some  picked  men's 
characters,  while  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  condensed 

21 


322  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

a  view  of  life  and  duty  which  was  as  sharply  con- 
trasted as  may  be  with  those  in  fashion.  It  is  not 
wonderful  that  those  who  sought  shelter  under  its 
shadow  should  have  loathed  the  old  ways,  and  should 
have  revolted  against  them  and  wished  to  tear  them 
up  root  and  branch ;  and  after  the  State  had 
countenanced  the  new  departure,  that  it  should 
have  become  fashionable  among  the  highly  placed 
as  well  as  the  poor  folk,  to  whom  the  Galilean 
Prophet  chiefly  preached.  It  is  not  wonderful,  too, 
that  the  young  and  untainted  should  have  become 
recruits  in  larger  and  larger  numbers  to  the  new 
life,  and  been  sickened  by  the  poisoned  and  the 
rotten  standards  of  their  fathers.  Nevertheless,  the 
fact  remains  that  the  barren  darkness  of  the  next 
four  centuries  in  culture  and  in  learning  can  be 
largely  traced  to  Gregory's  vehement  campaign 
against  both,  and  to  his  substitution  in  the  Western 
lands,  of  obscurantism  for  art  and  literature  and 
science  and  philosophy,  which  were  only  saved 
from  utter  extinction  by  the  preservation  of  a  few 
old  books  in  a  few  old  libraries,  the  opening  of 
which,  some  centuries  later,  was  like  the  first  sun- 
rise after  an  Arctic  winter. 

It  is  not  altogether  cheering  to  those  whose  survey 
of  the  world's  history  does  not  allow  them  to  ignore 
other  sources  than  Christianity  for  the  enlightening 
and  moral  forces  which  have  leavened  it  betimes, 
to  remember  all  this.  To  remember,  further,  that 
while  a  great  moral  teacher  who  could  not  naturally 
see  beyond  the  canopy  of  clouds  which  hid  the  blue 


MUHAMMEDANISM'S  MASCULINE  TEACHING  323 

sky  in  those  sad  days,  was  driving  men  away  from 
culture  and  beauty  and  enlightenment  and  gladness 
with  whips  and  scorpions,  and  bidding  them  march 
continually  down  a  long  avenue  of  cypresses  which 
led  to  their  graves,  there  was  about  to  break  upon 
the  world  another  mighty  movement  under  the 
aegis  of  another  faith  with  very  different  ideals. 
This,  while  it  was  mingled  with  many  fantastic 
details,  had  a  masculine  grip  of  some  mighty  ethical 
truths  and  moral  standards,  and  especially  that  of 
reality  as  contrasted  with  pretence,  and  the  equat- 
ing of  conduct  with  the  conventions  uttered  by  the 
lips.  That  while  Rome  sank  deeper  and  deeper 
into  the  slough  of  mediaeval  darkness,  Baghdad 
and  Cairo,  Granada  and  Cordova  revived  arts  and 
letters  and  poetry  and  philosophy,  and  planted  the 
waste  places  of  the  East  once  more  with  refreshing 
gardens.  Their  weapons  were  sometimes  cruel, 
but  it  remains  true  that  (although  it  was  at  the  point 
of  the  sword)  they  did  teach  that  lying  and  ribaldry 
and  moral  and  physical  cowardice  and  sloth  were 
diseases  that  needed  sunlight  and  the  unbounded 
forces  of  mental  and  moral  culture  for  their  dissipa- 
tion, and  not  a  cloistered  seclusion  for  their  cure. 
Further,  that  religion  was  not  a  bundle  of  opinions 
merely,  but  of  active  duties ;  and  that  men  would  be 
judged,  not  for  the  shibboleths  they  repeated,  but 
for  the  extent  to  which  they  made  the  world  better 
and  happier.  They  gathered  a  great  harvest,  and 
presently  they  passed  it  on  ;  and  when  the  Christian 
world  was  at  its  lowest,  it  was  from  the  Arabs,  the 


324  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

Moors,  and  the  despised  Jews,  who  formed  the 
intermediaries,  that  men  learned  once  more  what 
a  power  for  creating  character  and  sustaining 
civilisation  there  once  had  been  in  the  literature 
and  art  of  Greece,  and  in  the  laws  and  the  stoical 
fortitude  of  Rome.  Eventually  their  teaching  took 
the  Christian  world  by  storm  in  the  human  tornado 
we  call  the  Renascence,  and  thus  undid  the  well- 
meant  but  nevertheless  paralysing  influence  of  Saint 
Gregory.  This  was  so,  and  yet  we  return  again 
in  a  gentle  mood  to  the  great  man  and  his  aims, 
— mistaken  maybe,  but  crossed  by  no  sordid  and 
mean  threads ;  and  we  will  conclude  our  notice  of 
him  in  the  words  of  the  old  Monk  of  Whitby,  who 
was  his  first  biographer  : l — 

"  Sanctum  Gregorium  nob  is  in  amminiculum 
vocamus,  cum  sanctis  scilicet  apostolis  et  martyribus^ 
inter  quos  eum  in  celis  Christo  credimus  conjunctum. 
Ilium  que  esse  super  familiam  suam  servum  fidelem 
et  prudentem,  q^l^  in  tempore  tritici  tarn  abundanter 
donavit  illi  mensuram,  ut  cunctis  per  orbem  sacra- 
menta  ruminando  divina,  qualiter  illud  granum 
frumenti  mortuum  multum  cadens  in  terrain  adferens 
fructum*  a  fidelibus  cottidie  debeat  libari  atque  in 
perpetuam  gustari  salutem  ;  q^^o  jam  de  eo,  qui  in  eo 
manet  et  ipse  in  illo,  dicebat :  beatus  ille  servus 
quern  cum  venerit  dominus  suus  invenerit  sic 
facientem ;  Amen  dico  vobis,  super  omnia  bona 
sua  constituet  eum."3 

1  Op.  cit.  pp.  45  and  46.  *  John  xii.  24,  25. 

3  Matt.  xxiv.  46,  47. 


APPENDIX 

IN  reporting  the  declaration  of  faith  alleged  to  have 
been  made  by  Pope  Gregory  at  his  accession,  which 
I  took  from  the  only  source  where  it  is  preserved, 
namely,  his  life  by  John  the  Deacon,  I  ventured  to 
give  a  warning  that  that  source  is  by  no  means 
unimpeachable,  but  very  much  the  reverse.  The 
particular  point  to  which  importance  attaches  is 
what  Gregory's  attitude  was  towards  the  famous 
clause  in  regard  to  the  procession  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  which  caused  so  much  friction  in  later  times. 
The  question  in  dispute  is  not  as  to  the  truth  of 
the  affirmation  contained  in  the  current  edition  of 
the  Nicene  Creed — with  that  we  are  not  con- 
cerned here ;  nor  with  Dr.  Pusey's  characteristic 
attempt  to  direct  the  issue  to  that  point.  It  is 
with  the  justification  of  its  interpolation  in  the 
Creed,  if  any,  that  we  have  to  do.  As  early 
as  the  year  400  it  had  been  deemed  necessary, 
at  a  Spanish  Synod  held  at  Toledo,  to  affirm 
the  double  procession  of  the  Holy  Spirit  against 
the  Priscillianists.1  This  did  not  affect  the  Creed, 
however.  At  the  third  Council  of  Toledo,  held 

^Hefele,  iii.  175. 
325 


326  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

in  589,  twenty-three  anathemas  were  framed,  the 
third  of  which  reads  as  follows  :  "  Whosoever  does 
not  believe  or  has  not  believed  that  the  Holy  Spirit 
proceeds  from  the  Father  and  the  Son,  etc.  etc.,  let 
him  be  anathema."1 

In  the  Creed  of  Constantinople,  as  recited  and 
adhered  to  at  the  same  Council,  the  words  et  Filio 
are  inserted  in  the  clause  Spiritum  vero  Sanctum 
nee  creatum  nee  gentium  sed  procedentem  ex  Patre 
et  Filio  profitemur. 

This  is  the  first  time,  so  far  as  is  known, 
that  the  clause  occurs  in  any  Creed.  It  is  pos- 
sible that  it  may  have  been  used  in  a  Creed  in 
Spain  before  this  date,  but  no  record  of  the  fact 
remains. 

St.  Isidore,  Archbishop  of  Seville,  in  his  Rule  of 
Faith2  speaks  of  the  Holy  Spirit  as  ex  Patre  et 
Filio  procedentem. 

The  Creed  in  this  form  was  again  thus  subscribed 
at  other  Councils  of  Toledo  in  653  and  68 1.8  It 
seems  plain,  then,  that  the  interpolation  was  first 
introduced  into  the  Creed  in  Spain,  and  as  far  as 
we  know  in  589. 

Very  strangely,  the  first  evidence  we  have  of 
its  being  accepted  in  a  Creed  elsewhere  was  in 
England.  This  was  at  the  Council  of  Hatfield, 
held  in  680,  the  account  of  which  is  given  by 
Bede.  In  proclaiming  its  Rule  of  Faith,  he  includes 

1  Swainson,  The  Nicene  and  Apostles'  Creed,  145. 
3  Regula  Fidei,  Migne,  Ixxxiii.  p.  817.    Swainson,  of.  cit.  235, 
note  i. 

3  Swainson,  147. 


APPENDIX  327 

the  clause,  et  Spiritum  Sanctum  procedentem  ex 
Patre  et  Filio  inenarrabiliter.1 

Dr.  Bright  attributes  the  insertion  of  the  clause 
there  to  the  influence  of  Abbot  Hadrian.2  This 
seems  to  me  highly  improbable  and  contrary  to  all 
the  traditions  of  the  latter,  and  I  am  not  at  all 
certain  that  the  clause  was  not  interpolated  in  Bede. 
After  writing  this,  I  notice  that  Mr.  Swainson 
in  referring  to  it  says :  "I  suppose  the  MS.  has  not 
been  tampered  with."  It  is  at  all  events  curious,  as 
he  urges,  that  in  France  the  insertion  of  the  clause 
in  the  Creed  did  not  take  place  till  long  after  this. 
He  says  that  in  the  Gelasian  Sacramentary  and 
Martyrology  (considered  to  be  of  the  eighth  century, 
and  preserved  in  the  Paris  Library,  12047),  m  the 
recital  of  the  Creed  the  Holy  Spirit  is  said  to 
proceed  from  the  Father  only,  showing,  as  he  says, 
that  the  interpolation  had  not  then  found  its  way 
into  France.  Neither  had  it,  when  the  Gelasian 
Sacramentary  was  written  out  for  French  use.3 

In  Italy  the  evidence  of  the  much  later  inter- 
polation seems  quite  conclusive.  In  its  pronounce- 
ment on  the  Catholic  Faith  by  the  Council  held  by 
Pope  Agatho  in  679  the  Filioque  clause  does  not 
appear.4  But  we  can  go  much  further.  As  Mr. 
H.  R.  Percival  says,  in  809  a  Council  was  held 
at  Aix-la-Chapelle  by  Charlemagne,  and  from  it 
three  divines  were  sent  to  confer  with  Pope 

1  Plummer,    Bede,   vol.   i.   p.    240 ;    see    Haddan    and    Stubbs, 
iii.  142. 

2  Op.  cit.  361.  3  Swainson,  op,  cit.  146,  note  2. 
4  Mansi,  xi.  290. 


328  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

Leo  in.,  upon  the  subject.  The  Pope  opposed 
the  insertion  of  the  Filioque  clause  on  the  express 
ground  that  General  Councils  had  forbidden  any 
addition  to  be  made  to  the  formulary.1  Later  on, 
the  Prankish  Emperor  asked  his  bishops  what  was 
the  meaning  of  the  Creed  according  to  the  Latins.2 
Fleury  gives  the  result  of  his  investigations,  and 
says:  "In  France  they  continued  to  chant  the 
Creed  with  the  word  Filioque^  and  at  Rome  they 
continued  not  to  chant  it."3  "So  firmly  resolved," 
continues  Mr.  Percival,  "  was  the  Pope  that  the  clause 
should  not  be  introduced  into  the  Creed,  that  he 
presented  two  silver  shields  to  the  Confessio  in 
St.  Peter's  at  Rome,  on  one  of  which  was  engraved 
the  Creed  in  Latin  and  on  the  other  in  Greek, 
without  the  addition.  .  .  .  About  two  centuries 
later  St.  Peter  Damian4  mentions  them  as  still 
in  place,  and  about  two  centuries  later  Veccur, 
Patriarch  of  Constantinople,  declares  they  hung 
there  still." 

It  was  not  till  1014  that  for  the  first  time  the 
interpolated  Creed  was  used  at  Mass  with  the 
sanction  of  the  Pope.  In  that  year  Benedict  vm. 
acceded  to  the  urgent  request  on  the  subject  of 
Henry  n.  of  Germany,  and  so  the  papal  authority 
was  forced  to  yield,  and  the  silver  shields  have  dis- 
appeared from  St.  Peter's.6  It  is  plain  that  the  oath 
taken  by  the  Popes  at  their  election  to  preserve  un- 

1  Labbe,  Cone.  vii.  col.  1194.  *  Capit.  Reg.  Franc.  \.  483. 

8  Fleury,  Hist.  Eccl.  xlv.  ch.  48  ;  see  Percival,  Councils,  p.  166. 
4  Opusc.  xxxviii. 
6  Percival,  Councils,  Late  Nicene  and  Post- Nicene  Fathers,  167. 


APPENDIX  329 

mutilated  the  decrees  of  the  first  five  councils  was 
altered  in  order  to  equate  it  with  the  change  thus 
imposed  on  the  Church,  and  that  Pope  Benedict  the 
Eighth  on  a  most  vital  matter  of  faith  reversed  the 
pronouncements  of  Leo  the  Third  and  Fourth, 
Benedict  the  Third,  and  John  the  Eighth,  and  this 
under  the  Erastian  pressure  of  the  German  Emperor. 
In  view  of  this  evidence  as  to  the  attitude  of  the 
Holy  See  towards  the  insertion  of  the  Filioque 
clause  in  the  Creed  down  to  the  eleventh  century, 
we  can  hardly  doubt  that  John  the  Deacon's  in- 
clusion of  it  in  Pope  Gregory's  profession  of  faith 
was  a  sophistication.  It  is  curious  that  in  reporting 
the  translation  of  the  great  Pope's  Dialogues  into 
Greek  by  one  of  his  successors,  Pope  Zacharias,  he 
actually  charges  the  latter  with  having  deliberately 
omitted  the  critical  words  from  his  translation  of  that 
work.  Such  an  omission  in  a  work  professing  to  be 
the  translation  of  one  Pope's  work  by  another  Pope 
seems  quite  incredible,  especially  in  a  work  so  well 
known  as  the  Dialogues,  and  if  made,  only  proves 
the  contradictory  views  of  Infallible  Popes  on  such 
a  critical  question  as  the  legitimate  contents  of  the 
Church's  Creed. 

The  fact  is,  that  the  interpolation  of  the  clause 
into  a  solemn  profession  of  faith  made  by  such  a 
Church  Council  as  that  of  Nicaea  was  originally  a 
wicked  thing,  and  its  continued  presence  where  it  is, 
in  view  of  the  virtually  undisputed  facts,  is  little 
short  of  a  scandal.  Bishop  Pearson,  a  very  serious 
and  orthodox  scholar,  says  when  commenting  on 


330  SAINT  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

the  Eighth  Article  of  the  Creed  :  "  The  addition  of 
the  words  to  the  formal  Creed  without  the  consent 
and  against  the  protestations  of  the  Oriental  Church 
is  not  justifiable."  He  then  proceeds  to  justify  it 
only  "so  long  as  they  pretend  it  not  to  be  a  defini- 
tion of  that  Council,  but  an  addition  or  explication 
inserted,  and  condemns  not  those  who,  out  of  a 
greater  respect  to  such  synodical  determinations, 
will  admit  of  no  such  insertions,  nor  speak  any 
other  language  than  the  Scriptures  and  the  Fathers 
spoke." 

The  insertion  of  the  Rilioque  clause  was  not  the 
only  interpolation  into  the  Nicene  Creed  which  first 
took  place  at  the  Council  of  Toledo ;  another  clause 
now  recited  in  that  Creed  by  Roman  Catholics  and 
Protestants  alike  has  the  same  irregular  origin, 
namely,  the  words  Deiim  ex  Deo,  God  of  God. 
It  is  plain,  therefore,  that  the  Creed  called  Nicene 
in  our  Prayer  Book  has  no  claim  to  that  name.  It 
ought  to  be  called  the  Creed  of  Toledo,  and  the 
Synod  of  Toledo  is  not  accepted  as  authoritative 
by  the  English  Church. 


INDEX 


Actores,  or  clerks,  187. 
Aemiliana,  death  of,  5. 
Aemilianus,  the  Notary,  39  n. 
Aetherius,  Bishop  of  Lyons,  St. 

Gregory's  letter  to,  178. 
Africa  conforms  to   "The  Three 

Chapters,"  27. 

Agatha,  St.,  Church  of,  204,  205. 
Agatho,   Pope,   Council  held  by, 

.  327. 

Agilulf,  King  of  the  Lombards, 
devastates  the  Campagna, 
102,  103 ;  St.  Gregory  ob- 
tains truce  for  Rome,  103 ; 
result  of  peace,  106,  107. 

Aix-la-Chapelle,  Council  at,  327. 

Alboin,  King  of  the  Lombards, 
plunders  Rome,  10 ;  founds 
Lombard  kingdom  of  North 
Italy,  15. 

Alcuin  on  St.  Gregory,  2 ;  on 
St.  Gregory's  Pastoral  Care, 

54- 

Aldhelm  on  St.  Gregory,  2,  204. 
Alemanni,  defeat  of  the,  141. 
Alfred,   King,  and  St.  Gregory's 

Pastoral  Care,  54. 
Ambrosian  music,  212  et  seq. 
Anastasius,  Patriarch  of  Antioch, 

St.  Gregory's  letters  to,  92,  93, 

1 1 8,  318  ;  relics  sent  to,  228. 
Ancharius,  St.,  159. 
Anchorites,  66. 
Andrew,  St.,  Monastery  of,  founded 

by  St.  Gregory,  n,  25. 
Angels,  St.  Gregory  on,  270,  271. 
Anglo-Saxon  Church,  by  Lingard, 

83  n. 
Animals,  influence  of  saintly  men 

on,  233. 
Antharith,  the  Lombard  King,  and 

the  golden  key,  229. 


Apologia,  by  St.  Gregory,  26. 
Apparitions     and     ghosts,     234, 

235-. 

Ara  Cceli,  Church  of,  picture  of 
the  Virgin,  94  ;  altar,  95. 

Arianism  and  the  Lombards,  17, 
48,  no,  126;  among  the 
Visigoths,  130;  and  King 
Reccared,  134,  135;  among 
the  German  tribes,  146. 

Arichis,  Duke  of  Beneventum, 
105. 

Arigius,  Governor  of  Marseilles, 
154. 

Arigius,  Bishop  of  Gap,  and  St. 
Gregory,  167,  168,  173. 

Aries,  famous  city  on  the  Rhone, 
151,  152,  154. 

Arnulf,  Duke  of  Spoleto,  his 
advance  on  Rome,  101,  102, 
104. 

Assidonia,  14. 

Athanigild,  the  Gothic  King,  138. 

Augustine,  Aurelius,  I  ;  his 
system  of  dogma,  3  ;  on  pre- 
destination, 261  ;  on  penance, 
263 ;  on  the  Virgin  Mary, 
268  ;  on  angels,  271  ;  on  Fall 
of  Man,  279,  280  ;  on  Original 
Sin,  281,  282  ;  his  doctrines, 
282-284,  289-291 ;  founder 
of  Latin  theology,  288. 

Augustine,  Mission  of,  by  Mason, 
107,  108. 

Augustine,  St.,  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury,  and  St.  Gregory 

39  n->  5.4- 

Aurelius,  Bishop  of  Aries,  167. 
Avars,  the,  19,  121,  122. 

Baptism  ritual,  58,  276. 
Barmby,  Dr.,  Epistles  of  Gregory, 


332 


INDEX 


24  n.,  59  n.,  114  n.,  119  n., 
257  n.,  313  n.  ;  St.  Gregory 
and  the  supremacy  of  the  See 
of  St.  Peter,  44  ;  Gregory  the 
Great,  78  n.,  122  n.,  217  n., 
256  n.;  Letters  of  St.  Gregory, 
117  n.,  1 88  n. ;  on  the  duties 
of  the    rectores  patrimonii, 
187  ;  on  St.  Gregory's  inter- 
pretations, 255,  256;  on  St. 
Gregory's  high  moral  stand- 
ards, 313. 

Baronius,   the  Jesuit,  and  relics, 

25  ;  and  St.  Gregory's  mon- 
asteries, 82. 

Bede,  the  Venerable,  Historia 
Ecclesiastica,  2  ;  St.  Gregory 
the  Watchful,  6 ;  apocrisi- 
arz'us,  14 ;  on  St.  Gregory 
as  teacher  of  music,  217,  218  ; 
on  St.  Gregory  as  a  writer, 
219;  St.  Gregory's  epitaph, 
303 ;  St.  Gregory's  relics, 
306 ;  Council  of  Hatfield, 
326. 

Belisarius  conquers  the  Vandals, 
14. 

Benedict,  Pope,  13  ;  death,  18. 

Benedict,  St.,ofNursia,  1 1  ;  history 
of,  62  et  seq. ;  his  monasteries 
and  rule,  64  et  seq.,  81  ; 
death  and  burial,  64. 

Beneventum,  Duchy  of,  15,  16. 

Bible,  St.  Gregory  on  authority 
of,  244,  245. 

Bishops,  St.  Gregory  and,  51  et 
seq. ;  the  right  of  intercession, 
60. 

Bonifacius,  Bishop,  269. 

Bright,  Professor,  on  the  Church 
in  Gaul,  148,  151  ;  on  the 
Creed,  327. 

Brunichildis  or  Brunhilda,  Queen, 
daughter  of  King  Athanigild, 
her  character,  144,  160 ;  St. 
Gregory's  letters  to,  157, 163- 
166,  174,  179  ;  and  Syagrius, 
1 59 ;  death  of  Childebert, 
160;  and  Queen  Fredegundis, 
161  ;  and  Desiderius,  168. 

Burdatio  tax,  190. 

Burgundians,  the,  140-142. 

Bury,  Dr.,  on  the  Lombards  and 
Roman  possessions,  15-18  ; 
on  St.  Gregory's  theology, 


288  ;  Later  Roman  Empire, 
16  n.,  144. 
Byzantium,  Empire  of,  14. 

Caecilian,  Bishop  of  Carthage,  45. 
Calvin,  his  theory  of  Grace,  284  ; 

St.  Augustine's  greatest  pupil, 

291. 

Campagi,  58. 
Candidus  and  St.  Gregory,   157, 

162,  164,  178,  179- 
Canonical  Hours,  the,  69. 
Cantus  Gregorianus  and  Plantis, 

211  et  seq. 

Cassian  and  St.  Gregory,  72,  79. 
Cassino,  Monte,  64. 
Castus,  the  general,  106. 
Catacombs,  the,  227. 
Chalcedon,  Council  of,  26,  83,  84, 

115,  117,  164. 
Charibert,  son  of  Chlodowig,  143  ; 

death,  144. 

Chartularii,  or  notaries,  187. 
Childebert,  King  of  Austrasia,  in- 
vades Italy,  19 ;  inherits  the 

kingdom  of  Burgundy,  145  ; 

and  Queen  Fredegundis,  150  ; 

St.  Gregory's  letters  to,  156, 

158  ;  his  death,  160. 
Chilperic,   King  of  Neustria,  his 

character,     143 ;     murdered, 

145. 
Chlodowig  or  Chlovis,  King  of  the 

Franks,  and  his  descendants, 

141  et  seq. 
Chlothacaire  or  Chlothair,  son  of 

Chlodowig,  142. 
Chlothaire  II.,  161. 
Chrismal  Mass,  231. 
Christian  Worship,  by  Duchesne, 

269  n. 

Claudius,  Abbot  of  Classis,  39  n. 
Clovesho,  Council  of,  2. 
Coenobites,  66. 
Coloni,  or  serfs,  188. 
Columbus,   a   Numidian   bishop, 

45- 

Comitiolus,  a  Prsefect,  139. 
Conductores,  or  farmers,  188,  190, 

191. 
Conon,  Abbot  of  Lerins,  and  St. 

Gregory,  175. 
Constantinople,  the  patriarchate 

of,  40,  41. 
Corduba  (Cordova),  14,  130. 


INDEX 


333 


Corsica,  poverty  in,  112, 

Creeds,  St.  Gregory  on  the,  249, 
250  ;  of  Constantinople,  326  ; 
The  Niccne  and  AtostleJ 
Creed,  by  Swainson,  326  n. 

Crementius,  the  Byzantine  Prim- 
ate, 42. 

Cucullce,  or  cowls,  75. 

Cyriacus,  Abbot  of  St.  Andrew's, 
120,  138,  166-168,  173. 

Damasus,  Pope,  119. 

Damian,  St.  Peter,  328. 

Dante,  his  description  of  the  Pope, 
272,  273. 

Dauphine  ceded  to  the  Franks, 
141. 

Deacon,  St.  Gregory  as,  13. 

Deaconry  (diaconia},  201. 

Defensores  ecclesiae,  186. 

Desiderius,  Archbishop  of  Vienne, 
St.  Gregory's  letters  to,  166, 
172,  177;  and  Brunichildis, 
168,  181. 

Devil,  St.  Gregory's  theory  about 
the,  259. 

Dialogues.  See  St.  Gregory's 
works. 

Dinamius,  Rector  of  the  pro- 
vince of  Marseilles,  153; 
St.  Gregory's  letters  to,  161, 
163. 

Dionysius,the  Pseudo-Areopagite, 
On  the  Heavenly  Hierarchy, 
272. 

Dioscorus,  Bishop  of  Alexandria, 
115. 

Donatists,  the,  45,  51. 

Dreams,  St.  Gregory's  view  on, 
238,  239. 

Duchesne,  on  Church  music,  56, 
210,  211  ;  on  disciplinary 
regulations,  57,  58  ;  on  the 
Church  of  St.  Agatha,  205  ; 
on  the  Roman  Liturgy,  208  ; 
on  the  Easter  Mass  potion, 
240  ;  on  the  four  festivals  of 
the  Presentation,  268,  269 ; 
Christian  Worship,  269  n. 

Dudden,  F.  Homes,  on  St. 
Gregory,  2  ;  on  St.  Gregory's 
Dialogues  and  Morals,  8 ; 
on  the  state  of  Rome,  10,  96, 
99 ;  describes  the  principal 
Roman  possessions,  16  n. ;  on 


the  Lombards  in  Italy,  17, 
32,  33 ;  St.  Gregory's  inti- 
mates, 39  n. ;  on  the  Donatists, 
45  ;  on  the  pallium,  47 ;  on 
marriage  after  ordination,  52  ; 
St.  Gregory's  Pastoral  Care, 
54,  55 ;  ;  on  St.  Gregory's 
disciplinary  regulations,  59- 
61  ;  on  monastic  life,  82  ; 
on  the  principal  Italian 
officials,  88  et  seq. ;  the  real 
forces  of  the  Empire,  92  ;  the 
sevenfold  Litany  and  the 
plague,  93 ;  the  martyrdom 
of  Hermenigild,  133 ;  on 
state  of  Church  in  Gaul,  148  ; 
on  the  captivity  of  the  Bishop 
of  Turin,  170;  "the  hundred 
years  of  silence,"  183  ;  on  the 
patrimony  of  St.  Peter,  184  ; 
on  the  burning  of  lights  at 
shrines,  207  ;  on  the  Roman 
Liturgy,  208  ;  list  of  relics, 
223,  230 ;  on  St.  Gregory's 
interpretation  methods,  248  ; 
and  theory  of  the  other  world 
and  the  devil,  257  etseq. ;  on 
the  invocation  of  saints,  266  ; 
on  predestination,  283 ;  on 
St.  Gregory's  theology,  289  ; 
and  fallibility,  292  ;  and 
theory  of  the  Church,  296 ; 
on  St.  Gregory's  manifold 
duties,  301  ;  distribution  of 
St.  Gregory's  relics,  305  ;  St. 
Gregory's  miracles,  311  ;  and 
high  moral  standards,  313  ; 
and  obscurantism,  319,  320. 
Dunstan,  St.,  and  monastic 
discipline,  83. 

Emphyteusis,  a  rent  contract,  185. 

Encyclopedia  Britannica,  Dr. 
Littledale's  article  on  "  Bene- 
dict," 65  n.,  75  n.,  80  n. 

Equitius,  St.,  63,  82. 

Eucharist,  the,  277. 

Euchologium  Graecum,  237. 

Eulogius,  Patriarch  of  Alexandria, 
13;  St.  Gregory's  letters  to, 
42, 92, 1 1 8,  202  ;  St.  Gregory's 
presents  to,  199. 

Eusebius,  Bishop  of  Paris,  151. 

Eutropius,  Abbot,  and  the  Toledo 
Council,  134. 


334 


INDEX 


Eutychius,  Patriarch  of  Constanti- 
nople, and  St.  Gregory,  22, 
23,  250. 

Ewald  and  Hartmann,  on  "  The 
Three  Chapters,"  25  ;  on  St. 
Gregory's  authority  as  Pope, 
40  et  seq.,  50,  51. 

Exarch,  the,  at  Ravenna,  16  n., 
1 8  ;  status  of,  88,  89, 91  ;  and 
St.  Gregory,  102,  in. 

Fall  of  Man,  St.  Gregory  on  the, 

276  et  seq. 
Fantinus  the  Defensor,  193 ;  St. 

Gregory's  letters  to,  299,  300. 
Felix,  Pope,  and  St.  Gregory,  3. 
Filioque,  inserted  in  the  profession 

of  faith,  326  et  seq. 
Fleury,  on  the  insertion  of  Filioque 

in  the  Creed,  328. 
Florentius,  the  hermit,  233. 
Fortunatus,  Bishop  of  Fano,  54. 
Fortunatus  of  Tosti,  234. 
Franks,  the,  Gaul  under,  140  et 

seq. ;     condition      of     their 

Church,     146    et    seq.,    169, 

170. 

Fredegar,  on  Guntran,  142. 
Fredegundis,   Queen,    her    char- 
acter,    143-145,     150,    157; 

death,  161. 
Frere,   Rev.   W.  H.,   on  Church 

music,  211-216;    Dictionary 

of  Music,  212-216. 
Friedrich,  Dr.,  on  papal  power, 

128. 

Gallicinus,  the  Exarch,  106. 

Gaul,  under  the  Franks,  140  et 
seq.  ;  condition  of  the  Church, 
146  et  seq.,  153  ;  on  the  death 
of  Childebert,  760 ;  St. 
Gregory  and  the  discipline 
of  the  Church  in,  166  et 
seq. ;  "  the  hundred  years  of 
silence,"  182,  183. 

Gelasii  polyptycon,  197. 

George,  the  Chief  Notary,  death 

Of,  122. 

Germanus,  Pnefect  of  Rome,  34. 

Germanus,  Bishop  of  Capua,  ap- 
parition of,  235  ;  and  Pascha- 
sius,  262. 

Gevaert,  M.,  218. 

Gibbon,   on   St.  Gregory,  2,  30 ; 


on    Rome,    TOO  ;    death    of 

Emperor  Maurice,  122. 
Giesler,    Ecclesiastical    History, 

117  n. 
Gordian,  father  of  St.  Gregory, 

3-5  ;  death,  10. 

Gordiana,  sister  of  Gordian,  5,  6. 
Gorres,    Professor    F.,    on    the 

martyrdom   of  Hermenigild, 

133- 

Governors  of  provinces,  90. 

Gregorian  music,  211  et  seq. 

Gregorius,  a  monk,  235. 

Gregorovius,  81  n. ;  on  military 
organisation  of  Italy,  91  ;  on 
the  patrimony  of  St.  Peter, 
185  ;  the  Libellus  securatitis, 
1 88  ;  on  St.  Gregory's  epitaph, 

303- 

Gregory  the  First,  St.,  the  real 
founder  of  the  Papacy,  i  ; 
Montalembert  on,  i  ;  Gibbon, 
Bede,  Aldhelm,  Alcuin  on,  2  ; 
Dudden's  monograph  on,  2  ; 
ancestry  of,  3  et  seq. ;  birth, 
6  ;  ignorance  of  Greek,  7,  8  ; 
Praefect  of  Rome,  9,  10 ;  an 
ascetic  and  founder  of  monas- 
teries, i  r,  12,  21 ;  becomes  one 
of  the  Seven  Deacons,  11,13; 
made  a  Papal  Nuncio,  13,  18, 
19 ;  and  the  Lombards,  17  - 
19  ;  at  Constantinople,  19  et 
seq.  ;  literary  work  at  Con- 
stantinople, 21,  22  ;  con- 
troversy with  Eutychius,  22, 
23  ;  and  Emperor  Maurice, 
24,  28,  104,  105, 108,  109, 113, 
124 ;  returns  to  Rome,  25  ; 
and  schism  of  "The  Three 
Chapters,"  25  et  seq. ;  and 
the  bishops  of  I  stria,  27 ; 
lectures  on  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, 28  ;  objections  to  be- 
coming Pope,  29-34 ;  elected 
Pope,  34,  35  ;  public  profes- 
sions of  faith,  35,  36  ;  his 
appearance  described,  36-38  ; 
attendants  and  friends,  39  ; 
authority  as  Pope,  40  et  seq. ; 
authority  as  Patriarch,  44, 45  ; 
his  metropolitan  authority,  47 
et  seq. ;  and  the  Church 
revenues,  53 ;  his  synodical 
regulations,  54-57 ;  disciplin- 


INDEX 


335 


ary  regulations,  57-61  ;  on 
Church  fees,  61  ;  and  St. 
Benedict,  62  et  seq.  ;  ad- 
aptation of  St.  Benedict's  Rule, 
81,82  ;  his  monastic  discipline, 
83,  84  ;  synodical  letters,  92  ; 
the  sevenfold  Litany  and  the 
plague,  93-96  ;  sees  an  angel, 
95  ;  condition  of  Rome,  96 
et  seq. ;  correspondence  with 
Rusticiana,  99 ;  and  the 
Lombards,  101  et  seq. ;  his 
homilies  on  Ezekiel,  102, 
103  ;  and  Queen  Theodelinda, 
103,  107,  108,  no;  enhance- 
ment of  the  papal  power,  104, 
106,  124,  125  ;  and  the 
Exarchs,  in;  objects  to  law 
against  asceticism,  112-114; 
and  John  the  Faster,  1 1 5  et 
seq. ;  and  St.  Peter's  See,  117- 
119;  his  title,  119,  120,  128  ; 
and  Emperor  Phocas,  123- 
126 ;  as  a  politician  and 
statesman,  126-129;  conver- 
sion of  the  Arians,  126  ;  and 
the  Visigoths,  130  et  seq.; 
conversion  of  King  Reccared, 
133  et  seq. ;  letters  to 
Leander,  135  ;  jurisdiction  in 
Spain,  140;  condition  of  the 
Frankish  Church,  147  et 
seq.  ;  Vergilius,  152,  155,  167, 
175)  J77>  179  >  and  Theodore, 
152, 171  ;  andDinamius,  153, 
154  ;  patrimony  of  the  Church 
in  Gaul,  153  et  seq.;  letters 
to  King  Childebert,  154-156  ; 
and  Queen  Brunichildis,  157, 
159,  163  et  seq.,  174,  179; 
and  Palladius,  158  ;  and 
Dinamius,  161,  163 ;  and 
Candidus,  162,  169,  178, 179  ; 
and  Desiderius,  166,  169,  177, 
178  ;  and  Arigius,  167  ;  and 
Syagrius,  170  et  seq.  ;  the 
See  of  Turin,  170  ;  on  simon- 
iacal  practices,  172-174,  177  ; 
on  elevation  of  laymen,  173, 

174  ;  and  the  Abbot  of  Lerins, 

175  ;    rebukes  Serenus,  176, 
177  ;    letters  to  the  Gaulish 
Bishops,  178,  179  ;  and  King 
Chlothaire,     179 ;     and    the 
Gaulish    Church,     180-183; 


the  patrimony  of  St.  Peter, 
184  et  seq. ;  and  his  sub- 
Deacon  Peter,  189  et  seq. ; 
on  abuses,  190-193  ;  his  solici- 
tude for  the  oppressed,  193  ; 
his  business  capabilities,  193  ; 
distribution  of  papal  alms, 
197  et  seq. ;  his  manifold 
charities,  199-203 ;  ecclesi- 
astic and  theologian,  204  et 
seq. ;  the  Church  of  St. 
Agatha,  204, 205  ;  gifts  to  the 
Church,  206, 207 ;  ordinations, 
207  ;  alterations  in  Roman 
Liturgy,  207  et  seq. ;  the 
Mass  and  Church  music,  210 
et  seq.  ;  the  annual  litany  or 
procession,  211  ;  reform  of  the 
calendar,  218  ;  as  a  preacher, 
219-222;  the  cult  of  relics, 
222  et  seq. ;  magical  use  of 
relics,  229  et  seq. ;  influence 
of  saintly  men  on  animals, 
233 ;  apparitions  and  ghosts, 
234>  235  >  credulity  displayed 
in  Dialogues,  237,  238  ;  his 
views  on  dreams,  238,  239  ; 
influence  on  the  theology  of 
the  Middle  Ages  and  papal 
infallibility,  241  et  seq. ;  and 
authority  of  Bible,  244  et 
seq.  ;  his  interpretation 
methods,  246  et  seq.,  254, 
255  ;  the  councils  and  creeds, 
249,  250,  325  ;  dogmatic 
teaching,  250,  251  ;  his  theory 
of  the  other  world,  257,  258  ; 
and  the  devil,  258,  259  ;  of 
hell,  260-262 ;  of  penance 
and  purgatory,  263-265  ;  on 
invocation  of  saints,  266,  267  ; 
his  slight  references  to  "  the 
Virgin,"  268-270  ;  on  angels, 
271,  272 ;  his  vision  of 
heaven,  272-275 ;  on  the 
Sacraments,  276  ;  on  the  Fall 
of  Man,  276-280  ;  on  Original 
Sin,278  et  seq. ;  and  Augustin- 
ianism,  281,  290,  291  ;  views 
on  predestination,  282  et 
seq. ;  theory  of  redemption, 

288  ;  summary  of  his  theology, 

289  ;  fallibility,  291-293  ;  his 
intolerance,    294  ;    theory   of 
the    Church,    294-296 ;    on 


336 


INDEX 


Church  and  State,  297  ;  and 
the  Jews,  298-300  ;  manifold 
duties  and  ill-health,  301  ; 
death  and  burial,  302,  304  ; 
epitaph,  303  ;  distribution  of 
his  relics,  304,  305  ;  and  the 
release  of  Trajan,  306,  307  ; 
his  miracles,  307-312  ;  high 
moral  standards,  312-316 ; 
culture  in  his  time,  315-318  ; 
obscurantism,  319,  322  ;  low 
moral  standards,  in  sixth 
century,  320-321  ;  the  Whitby 
Monk  on,  324. 

His  works  :  Apologia,  26.  The 
Dialogues,  3,  21,  32,  33  ;  St. 
Benedict,  62-64,  ?8,  81,  82, 
no;  the  sub-Deacon  Peter, 
189;  the  Church  of  St. 
Agatha,  204  ;  the  sign  of  the 
Cross,  230 ;  legendary  tales, 
231  et  seq.  ;  the  mediaeval 
devil,  258-260;  theory  of 
hell,  261,  262,  265  ;  "The 
Virgin,"  269,  270 ;  vision  of 
heaven,  273 ;  the  Eucharist, 
277,  278  ;  predestination, 
287  ;  Filioque,  329.  The 
Homilies,  3,  6,  9,  246,  248, 
254,  255,  261,  268,  290.  The 
Magnet.  Moralia,  21,  22,  221  ; 
Holy  Scripture,  244, 246-248  ; 
popularity  of,  252-254  ;  alle- 
gorical interpretation,  255  ; 
theory  of  hell,  261  ;  Original 
Sin,  279  ;  predestination,  285, 
286  ;  theology,  290  ;  theory 
of  the  Church,  294,  295  ; 
high  moral  standards,  313. 
Pastoral  Care,  54. 

Gregory,  Epistles  of.  See  Barmby. 

Gregory  the  Great.    See  Barmby. 

Gregory,  Letters  of.   See  Barmby. 

Gregory,  Bishop  of  Antioch,  92. 

Gregory,  Bishop  of  Tours,  on  St. 
Gregory,  8,  12,  13,  24,  29,  34, 
127  ;  the  plague,  93,  94  ;  the 
death  of  Hermenigild,  132  ; 
on  King  Guntran,  142  ;  con- 
dition of  the  Frankish 
Church,  148-150;  on  Theo- 
dore, 152  ;  on  Syagrius,  159  ; 
the  cult  of  relics,  223  ;  the 
Assumption  of  the  Virgin, 
268. 


Grisar,  Roma  alia  fine  storia 
Roma,  etc.,  3  n. 

Gunthrainn,  or  Guntran,  King, 
his  character,  142,180;  and 
Fredegundis,  145  ;  persecu- 
tion of  Theodore,  152. 

Gyrovagi,  vagrant  monks,  66. 

Hadrian,   Mausoleum  of,  legend 

of,  95. 
Hadrian,  Abbot,  and  the  insertion 

of  Filioque,  327. 
Hartmann.     See  Ewald. 
Hatfield,  Council  of,  326. 
Hell,  St.  Gregory's  theory  of,  260, 

261. 
Hermenigild,  abandons  Arianism, 

20,  131  ;  exile  and  death,  132, 

133- 
Hilarion,  Abbot  of  St.  Andrew's, 

19. 
Hilary,  St.,  Bishop  of  Poictiers, 

translates  Origen's  works,  22. 
Hincmar,  Archbishop  of  Rheims, 

54- 
Hodgkin,   Dr.,  on   St.   Gregory, 

314. 

Homilies,  The.     See  Gregory,  St. 
Honoratus,  Archdeacon,  removal 

of,  43- 

Honorius,  Pope,  on  St.  Gregory's 
Benedictine  Rule,  83. 

Ibas,  Bishop  of  Edessa,  and  "  The 

Three  Chapters,"  26,  27. 
Ingunthis,     daughter    of     King 

Sigebert,  131. 
Innocent  I.,  Pope,  246. 
Isidore,  Archbishop  of  Seville,  on 

Hermenigild,    132 ;    on    the 

Holy  Spirit,  326. 
Istria  and  "  The  Three  Chapters," 

27. 
Italy,  Lombards  in,  14,  15, 17,  18  ; 

administration  of,  88  et  seq.  ; 

military   organisation   of,  90 

et  seq. ;  the  patrimony  of  St. 

Peter,  184  et  seq. 

Januarius,  Bishop  of  Malaga,  de- 
position of,  138,  139. 

Januarius,  Deacon  of  Messina, 
206. 

Jerome,  new  version  of  the  Bible, 
245. 


INDEX 


337 


Jews  and  St.  Gregory,  298,  300. 

John  the  Abbot,  228. 

John,  Bishop  of  Biclaro,  on  Her- 
menigild,  132. 

John,  Bishop  of  Constantinople, 
92. 

John  the  Deacon,  biographer 
of  St.  Gregory,  4,  13  n. ;  St. 
Gregory's  profession  of  faith, 
35,  36,249,  325  ;  St.  Gregory's 
appearance,  36-38 ;  and 
Bishop  Stephen,  138,  139 ; 
on  the  distribution  of  papal 
alms,  197,  198,  201,  207  ;  on 
the  Liturgy,  210;  Gregorian 
music,  217 ;  St.  Gregory's 
sermons,  220 ;  St.  John's 
tunic,  228 ;  the  neophytes' 
potion,  240  ;  and  the  release 
of  Trajan,  308 ;  on  St. 
Gregory's  appearance  to  his 
successor,  310. 

John  the  Faster,  Patriarch  of 
Constantinople,  23  ;  dispute 
with  St.  Gregory,  1 1 5  et  seq. ; 
death,  120. 

John,  Bishop  of  Jerusalem,  92. 

John,  Bishop  of  Prima  Justiniana, 

Si- 

John,  Bishop  of  Ravenna,  and 
St.  Gregory,  50,  57. 

John  the  Regionarius,  163. 

John,  Bishop  of  Salisbury,  and 
St.  Gregory,  320. 

John,  Bishop  of  Squillacium,  and 
St.  Gregory,  50. 

John,  Bishop  of  Syracuse,  and 
St.  Gregory,  58,  208. 

Judices  provinciarum,  governors 
of  provinces,  90. 

Justin,  Emperor,  and  St.  Gregory, 
9 ;  death,  18. 

Justinian,  Emperor,  and  his 
Empire,  14,  15  ;  and  the 
Council  of  Chalcedon,  25- 
27  ;  and  the  title  (Ecumen- 
ical, 1 1 6. 

Justus,  a  monk,  St.  Gregory's 
severe  discipline,  86. 

Kellett's  Cambridge  Historical 
Essays,  182. 

Lanciani's  Pagan  and  Christian 
Rome,  302  n. 
22 


Lanfranc,  and  the  seven  Can- 
onical Hours,  83. 

Laurentius,  Archdeacon,  apocrisi- 
arius  at  Constantinople,  116. 

Leander,  Archbishop  of  Seville, 
and  St.  Gregory,  20,  31,  135, 
256  ;  and  Hermenigild,  131  ; 
and  King  Reccared,  133, 134  ; 
and  the  double  procession  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  249. 

Legatio,  by  Liudprand,  on  St. 
Gregory,  237. 

Leo,  Pope,  26  ;  miracle  of  the 
bleeding  cloth,  226,  308. 

Leontia,  Empress,  123  ;  and  St. 
Gregory,  125. 

Leovigild,  Visigothic  King,  14, 
20,  131  ;  defeats  Hermeni- 
gild, 132  ;  death,  133. 

Lerins,  famous  monastery  of,  146. 

Libellus  securitatis,  register  of 
titles,  1 88. 

Liber  Pontificalis,  204,  207,  209. 

Liberius,  Justinian's  general,  14. 

Libertinus,  a  saintly  monk,  78. 

Licinianus,  Bishop  of  Carthagena, 
and  St.  Gregory,  22,  133. 

Lingard's  Anglo-Saxon  Church, 
83  n. 

Litany,  the  sevenfold,  93. 

Littledale,  Dr.,  Encyclopedia  Brit- 
annica,  on  St.  Benedict,  65  n., 
75  n.,  79,  80. 

Liturgy,  alteration  in  the,2O7  et  seq. 

Liudprand's  Legatio  on  St. 
Gregory,  237. 

Lombards  in  Italy,  15  et  seq.  ; 
devastation  by,  32,  80 ;  and 
St.  Gregory  on,  17,  101  et 
seq. ;  and  Arianism,  18, 
48  ;  conversion  to  orthodoxy, 
no. 

Lombards,  History  of  the,  by  Paul 
the  Deacon,  25. 

Lucca,  Cardinal,  on  papal  power, 
128. 

Luther,  on  Scripture,  247,  248, 
283. 

Malaga,  14. 

Mappulae,  white  linen  covers,  57. 

Marinianus,       Archbishop        of 

Ravenna,  12,  39  n. 
Mason's  Mission  of  Augustine, 

107  n. 


338 


INDEX 


Mass  of  St.  Gregory,  210  ;  Chris- 
mal,  231. 

Massae,  190. 

Maurice,  Emperor,  23  ;  and  St. 
Gregory,  24,  54,  101,  108  et 
seq. ;  and  the  Lombards, 
102  et  seq. ;  new  law  as  to 
monks,  113-115;  and  John 
the  Faster,  119;  defeat  and 
murder  of,  122;  and  Childe- 
bert,  145,  1 60. 

Maurienne,  the  See  of  St.  Jean  de, 
169-171. 

Maurus,  63. 

Maximianus,  Abbot  of  St. 
Andrew's,  afterwards  Bishop 
of  Syracuse,  20,  21,  25,  35,  39. 

Menas,  Bishop  of  Toulon,  171, 
176. 

Mennas,  Patriarch  of  Constanti- 
nople, 1 1 6. 

Merovach,  marriage  with  Bruni- 
childis,  157. 

Military  organisation  of  Italy, 
90,  91. 

Milman  on  the  Book  of  Job,  253. 

Monasteries  of  St.  Andrew,  n  ; 
of  St.  Benedict,  62  et  seq., 
80,  8 1  ;  of  Monte  Cassino, 
80,  8 1  ;  discipline,  82-87  J  of 
St.  Cassian,  161. 

Monastriae,  198. 

Monks  (see  also  Monasteries), 
dominant  motive  of,  65  ; 
St.  Benedict's  Rule  for,  65  et 
seq.  ;  various  kinds  of,  66  ; 
St.  Gregory's  discipline,  83 
et  seq. 

Monks,  History  of  the,  by  Monta- 
lembert,  114. 

Monophysite  schism,  33. 

Montalembert  on  St.  Gregory,  i  ; 
History  of  the  Monks  in  the 
West,  114. 

Moralia,  Magna.  See  St.  Greg- 
ory's works. 

Mozarabic  music,  212. 

Muhammedanism's  masculine 
teaching,  323. 

Music,  Dictionary  of.     See  Frere. 

Naples,  attack  on,  105. 

Narses  plunders  Rome,  10 ;  re- 
covers Italy  from  the  Goths, 
14- 


Natalis,  Bishop  of  Salona,  re- 
buked by  St.  Gregory,  43. 

Nicetius,  Bishop  of  Lyons,  150. 

Notarii,  sworn  notaries,  187. 

Novices,  House  of,  76. 

Nuptiale  commoda,  marriage  fees, 
190,  191. 

Nursia,  birthplace  of  St.  Benedict, 
63- 

(Ecumenical  or  Universal  Pat- 
riarch, dispute  as  to  title  of, 
115,  116,  120,  128. 

Officials,  principal,  in  Italy  and 
their  duties,  88  et  seq. 

Oman,  on  St.  Gregory's  interven- 
tion in  politics,  106,  107  ;  on 
Emperor  Maurice,  121  ;  and 
King  Reccared's  conversion, 
137  ;  on  Queen  Brunichildis, 
1 60,  1 66  n. 

Ordination,  St.  Gregory's  rules 
for,  51,  52. 

Orphanostrophium,  the  Roman 
singing  school,  217. 

Pagan  and  Christian  Rome,  by 

Lanciani,  302  n. 
Palladius,  Bishop  of  Saintes,  and 

St.  Gregory,  158. 
Pallium,   or  pall,   worn    by   St. 

Gregory,   37,   38  ;  by  whom 

used,  46,  47,  156;  no  fee  for, 

57- 

Papal  Peace,  the,  107. 
Papal    Power,  enhancement    of, 

128,  129. 
Paschasius,  Bishop  of  Naples,  and 

St.  Gregory,  53  n.,  299. 
Paschasius  the  Deacon,  appears 

to  Germanus,  262. 
Pastoral  Care,  by  St.  Gregory,  54. 
Pateria,  6. 
Paterius    the     Notary    and    St. 

Gregory,  39. 
Patrimonium  Appiae,  Labicanae, 

Tiburtinum,  Tusczae,i84,i8$. 
Paul  the   Deacon,  St.  Gregory's 

biographer,  4,  8  ;  the  plague, 

29  ;  St.  Gregory's  gifts  to  the 

poor,  206  ;  and  miracles,  311; 

History  of  the  Lombards,  25. 
Paul,  St.,  relics  of,  225-228. 
Pearson,  Bishop,  on  the    Creed, 

329- 


INDEX 


339 


Peasants  and  their  burdens,  188 
et  seq. 

Pelagius  11.,  Pope,  appoints  St. 
Gregory  as  Papal  Nuncio  at 
Constantinople,  18,  19  ;  "  The 
Three  Chapters,"  26  ;  death, 
29  ;  and  the  Council  of  Con- 
stantinople, 41,  116;  Church 
fees,  6 1  ;  and  the  title  Exarch, 
88 ;  on  the  state  of  Rome, 
98  n. ;  on  the  sufferings  of 
Italy,  147. 

Penance,  St.  Gregory's  theory  of, 
263. 

Percival,  H.  R.,  and  the  Council 
of  Aix-la-Chapelle,  327,  328. 

Pergrande  Volumen,  198. 

Persarmenia,  121. 

Persian  War,  19  ;  close  of,  121. 

Perugia,  i6n. ;  ceded  to  the 
Lombards,  105. 

Peter,  St.,  the  See  of,  117-119; 
the  patrimony  of,  184  et 
seq. ;  relics  of,  225-228  ;  and 
the  release  of  Trajan,  307, 
308. 

Phaneta,  a  chasuble,  37. 

Phocas,  Emperor,  his  character, 
122  ;  and  St.  Gregory,  123. 

Plague,  the,  29,  93. 

Prasfect,  the,  his  position  and 
duties,  89,  90. 

Prsetextatus,  Bishop,  murder  of, 
150. 

Pragmatic  Sanction,  the,  15. 

Predestination,  St.  Gregory's 
views  on,  282  et  seq. 

Pretiosus,  the  Prior,  and  Justus,  86. 

Probus  and  St.  Gregory,  39. 

Provence  ceded  to  the  Franks, 
141,  142. 

Purgatory,  St.  Gregory's  theory 
of,  264,  265 

Putta,  Bishop  of  Rochester,  and 
Church  music,  217. 

Reccared,     King,     133 ;    abjures 

Arianism,     134,     135,     249; 

death,  138  ;  his  laws,  163. 
Rectores  patrimonii,  186,  187. 
Rector es  regionarii,  187. 
Redemption,  St.  Gregory's  theory 

of,  288. 
Relics,    cult    of,     222     et    seq. ; 

magical  use  of,  229. 


Ricimer,  the  Consul,  builds  an 
Arian  church,  204,  205. 

Rockstro,  W.  S.,  and  Church 
music,  212,  213;  Plagal 
Modes,  214. 

Roman  possessions,  16  n. 

Romanus  the  Exarch,  in. 

Rome,  plunder  of,  10 ;  flood  and 
plague,  29, 93-95  ;  precedence 
of  Pope  of,  40 ;  Benedictine 
convent  in,  81  ;  the  proces- 
sion and  sevenfold  Litany,  93- 
95  ;  condition  in  St.  Gregory's 
time  of,  96  et  seq.  ;  besieged 
by  the  Lombards,  102  et  seq. ; 
Synod  of,  266  ;  lack  of  theo- 
logical books  at,  317. 

Sabinianus  the  Deacon,  afterwards 
Pope,  and  St.  Gregory,  117, 

309,  3io- 
Sacraments,  St.  Gregory  on  the, 

276,  277. 

Sacro  Speco,  the,  63. 
Salvius,  Bishop,  150. 
Sarabaites,  a  kind  of  monk,  66. 
Sardinia,  the  Pope's  authority  over, 

48,  in. 
Schola    Cantorum,    the    singing 

school  at  Rome,  217. 
Scribones,  the  Imperial  recruiting 

officers,  186. 
Senate,  the,  91,  92. 
Serenus,    Bishop    of   Marseilles, 

and    St.   Gregory,    166,    176, 

177- 

Sertorius,  the  Roman  rebel,  63 

Sigebert,  King  of  Austrasia,  131, 
142;  character  and  death, 
144, 157. 

Silvia,  St.  Gregory's  mother,  de- 
scription of,  4,  5. 

Simplicius,  Abbot  of  Monte 
Cassino,  62. 

Sin,  St.  Gregory  on  Original,  278 
et  seq. 

Slavs,  the,  15,  121. 

Soissons,  ritual  for  a  newly  conse- 
crated bishop,  151. 

Spain,  Justinian  reconquers  part 
of,  14,  15;  St.  Gregory's 
work  in,  130  et  seq.,  138. 

Spoleto,  Duchy  of,  15,  16. 

Stephen,  Bishop,  deposition  of, 
!38>  139  J  a  story  of,  274. 


340 


INDEX 


Subiaco,  St.  Benedict  at,  64. 

Swainson,  The  Nicene  and 
Apostles*  Creed,  326  n.,  327. 

Syagrius,  Bishop  of  Autun,  and 
the  pallium,  159,  163,  164, 
181  ;  and  Queen  Brunichildis, 
I39>  163,  1 68;  and  St. 
Gregory's  letters  to,  171-175. 

Symmachus,  Pope,  262. 

Tarsilla,  St.  Gregory's  aunt,  5. 

Tertullus,  the  Senator,  63. 

Theoctista,  20 ;  and  St.  Gregory, 
30. 

Theodebert,  King,  son  of  Em- 
peror Maurice,  160 ;  and  St. 
Gregory,  174,  179. 

Theodelinda,  Queen,  wife  of  King 
Agilulf,  102,  103,  106,  107, 
no;  and  St.  Gregory,  199, 
306. 

Theodora,  Empress,  26. 

Theodore,  Bishop  of  Mopsuepsia, 
26;  and  St.  Gregory,  152; 
Sozomen  on,  317. 

Theodoret,  Bishop  of  Cyrrhus, 
26,  27. 

Theodoric,  King,  son  of  Emperor 
Maurice,  160;  and  St.  Greg- 
ory, 174,  179,  235. 

Theophylactus  on  John  the  Faster, 

23- 
"Three   Chapters,"   Question    of 

the,  25,  249. 
Tituli,  56,  195. 
Toledo,  Third  Council  of,  20,  249  ; 

Synod  at,  134,  325. 
Totila  plunders  Rome,  10. 


Traducianism,  282. 
Trappists,  the,  79. 
Trent,  Council  of,  267. 
Trophimus,  St.,  152. 
Turin,  See  of,  169,  170. 

Urban  the  Eighth,  133. 
Urbicus,  Abbot  of  St.  Hernias,  84. 
Ursicinus,  Bishop  of  Turin,  170. 
Usener,  Herr  H.,  Rhein  Mus,  240. 

Valentinian  and  the  Benedictine 
Monastery,  62. 

Vaughan,  Cardinal,  on  relics, 
225  n. 

Venantius  and  monastic  discipline, 
84,  85. 

Vergilius,  Archbishop  of  Aries,  his 
character,  152  ;  asks  for  the 
pallium,  155  ;  and  St.  Greg- 
ory, 157,  167,  172,  175,  177. 

Vicars,  the,  their  jurisdiction,  90. 

Vienne,  See  of,  168,  169,  181. 

Vigilius,  Pope,  and  St.  Gregory, 
26. 

Virgin,  the  Festival  of  the,  268, 
269. 

Visigoths,  the,  15  ;  and  St.  Greg- 
ory, 130  et  seq. ;  as  Chris- 
tians, 140,  141. 

Werfurth,  Bishop,  translates  the 

Dialogues,  no. 
Wilfred,  St.,  151. 
Witiges,   the    Ostrogothic    King, 

141. 

Xenodochia,  guest-houses,  201. 


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sense  of  the  liturgical  fitness  is  so  sure,  his  knowledge  of  details  so  large, 
that  if  the  task  were  committed  to  his  free  hand  we  should  sleep  peacefully 
while  he  did  the  work.' — Church  Times. 

THE  GROWTH  OF  THE  GOSPELS 

As  shown  by  Structural  Criticism 

BY  W.  M.  FLINDERS  PETRIE,  D.C.L.,  LL.D.,  F.R.S. 

Crown  8vo.     2s.  6J.  net. 

1  A  thoroughly  practical  demonstration.  ...  It  is  an  excellent  little 
treatise  treated  in  every  way  worthy  of  the  great  reputation  of  the 
author.' — Sunday  Times. 

' ...  an  able  and  helpful  contribution.  .  .  .  Professor  Petrie  has  dealt 
with  one  of  the  most  difficult  and  important  of  literary  problems  in  a  novel, 
striking  and  instructive  manner,  and  therefore  deserves  the  hearty  gratitude 
of  students.' — Christian  World. 

PROPHECY:  JEWISH  AND  CHRISTIAN 

Considered  in  a  Series  of  Warburton  Lectures  at  Lincoln's  Inn 

By  the  Very  Rev.  HENRY  WAGE,  D.D.,  Dean  of  Canterbury 

Crown  8vo.     $s.  6d.  net. 

'  As  a  calm  reasoned  statement  of  the  more  conservative  view  of  prophecy 
in  the  Old  and  New  Testament,  the  book  will  be  felt  to  have  high  merits. 
.  .  .  The  style  is  lucid  and  the  mode  of  presentation  interesting  and  instruc- 
tive throughout.' — British  Weekly. 


THE  CATHEDRAL  CHURCHES  OF  ENGLAND 

Their  Architecture,  History,  and  Antiquities.  With  Bibliography, 
Itinerary,  and  Glossary.  A  Practical  Handbook  for  Students  and 
Travellers.  By  HELEN  MARSHALL  PRATT.  Illustrated.  Crown 
8vo.  loj.  6d. 

'  It  fully  carries  out  the  promises  of  the  description.  As  a  useful  guide 
for  the  traveller  we  have  met  with  no  more  suitable  book ;  while  for  the 
student  unable  to  visit  the  actual  buildings,  the  description  leaves  nothing 
to  be  desired." — Outlook. 

DULCE  DOMUM 

Bishop  Moberly  and  his  Family.  By  his  Daughter  (Miss  C.  A.  E. 
MOBERLY).  Third  Impression.  With  Illustrations.  DemySvo.  10*.  6d. 
net. 

'  It  is  extremely  difficult  to  take  a  detached  view  of  this  remarkable 
book.  Criticism  seems  wholly  out  of  place.  It  does  not  apply  to  realities. 
One  would  as  soon  think  of  criticizing  a  beautiful  view,  a  spring  morning, 
an  autumn  sunset — anything  that  absolutely  enters  into  and  becomes  part  of 
oneself,  part  of  one's  highest  self.  That  is  what  happens  to  the  reader  of 
these  pages.' — Evening  Standard. 


WORKS  OF  THE  LATE  BISHOP  MOBERLY 
PROBLEMS  AND  PRINCIPLES 

Being  Papers  Theological  and  Ecclesiastical.  Edited  by  the  Rev.  R.  B. 
RACKHAM,  M.A.  Demy  8vo.  Cheap  Edition.  6s.  net. 

CHRIST  OUR  LIFE 

Sermons  chiefly  preached  in  Oxford.  Demy  8vo.  Cheap  Edition.  6s.  net. 

ATONEMENT  AND  PERSONALITY 

Cheap  Edition.     Demy  8vo.    6s.  net. 

MINISTERIAL  PRIESTHOOD 

Six  Chapters  preliminary  to  a  Study  of  the  Ordinal.  With  an  Inquiry 
into  the  Truth  of  Christian  Priesthood  and  an  Appendix  on  the  recent 
Roman  Controversy.  Second  Edition,  with  a  New  Introduction. 
Cheap  Edition.  Demy  8vo.  6s.  net. 

SORROW,  SIN,  AND  BEAUTY 

Three  Short  Series  of  Addresses.     Crown  8vo.     2s.  6J.  net. 

UNDENOMINATIONALISM 

As  a  Principle  of  Primary  Education.    Demy  8vo.     is.  net. 


CORRESPONDENCE  ON  CHURCH  AND  RELIGION 

OF  WILLIAM  EWART  GLADSTONE 
Selected  and  Arranged  by  D.  C.  LATHBURY.     With  Portraits.    Two 
Volumes.     Demy  8vo.     24*.  net. 

'  The  highest  praise  that  can  be  given  to  these  volumes  is  to  say  that  they 
are  fit  to  be  placed  side  by  side  with  Lord  Morley's  famous  work.  .  .  .  No 
one  can  rise  from  their  perusal  without  a  feeling  of  admiration  for  the  great 
Christian  statesman  whose  religious  life  they  so  vividly  portray.  .  .  .  We 
are  given  intimate  glimpses  into  a  noble  soul.  .  .  .  The  unreserve  and  the 
unconstraint  of  many  of  these  letters  is  remarkable.  .  .  .  Let  it  be  said  at 
once  that  Mr.  Lathbury  has  executed  his  task  with  great  ability  and  un- 
erring judgement.' — Daily  Chronicle. 

THE    AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF    T.    DE    WITT    TAL- 

MAGE,  D.D. 
With  Portraits.     Demy  8vo.     I3f.net. 

Dr.  Talmage  enjoyed  a  world-wide  reputation  as  one  of  the  most  popular 
preachers  of  the  last  century.  In  his  later  years  his  weekly  sermons  were 
eagerly  sought  for  not  only  by  his  own  congregation  in  Brooklyn  (which 
was  numbered  by  thousands)  but  by  a  vast  circle  of  readers  beyond.  They 
were  printed  week  by  week  and  read  by  millions.  The  principal  scene  of 
his  ministry  was  Brooklyn,  where  his  Tabernacle  was  three  times  burned  to 
the  ground  and  rebuilt  on  larger  proportions  than  before.  He  was  a  great 
traveller,  and  wherever  he  went — in  England  and  even  in  Russia — he  en- 
joyed a  remarkable  popularity  and  huge  crowds  went  to  hear  him  preach. 
Everywhere  he  was  received  by  the  leading  people  of  the  land,  including 
the  Czar  of  Russia.  His  autobiography  has  been  edited  by  his  wife,  who 
adds  the  concluding  chapters. 

THE  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  BORROW 

Compiled  from  Unpublished  Official  Documents,  his  Works,  Corre- 
spondence, &c.,  by  HERBERT  JENKINS.  With  a  Frontispiece  in 
Photogravure  and  Twelve  other  Illustrations.  Demy  8vo.  IQJ.  6d.  net. 

THE     EARLY     HISTORY     OF     THE     CHRISTIAN 
CHURCH 

By  Monsignor  Louis  DUCHESNE,  Director  of  the  French  School  at 
Rome  and  Member  of  the  French  Academy.  Two  Volumes.  Demy 
Svo.  9;.  net  each. 


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